Lost
by insanemonkeyboy
Summary: ADOPTED FROM DERANGED KAZUNA55. Team Natsu has had enough of Natsu unnecessarily destroying things during their mission and losing half of the reward. It was only supposed to be just one job, but little did they know that one little job can change their lives. Final pairing will be NatsuxLevy (NaLe)
1. Chapter 1

**ADOPTED FROM** **deranged kazuna55.** Got permission to adopt from the author, so please no flames about stealing other people's ideas. Hopefully I can continue it satisfactorily.

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail isn't mine. It belongs Mashima. Original idea for this story belongs to **deranged kazuna55.**

I'm also keeping the first chapter intact, other than a few changes to the A/N.

* * *

Chapter 1

(THIRD PERSON P.O.V)

MAGNOLIA

Team Natsu was once again back from another successful and at the same time unsuccessful mission. They have managed to complete the job, but as usual Natsu had gone overboard and destroyed things in the process. As a result their rewards was cut short to pay for the damages. Gray paid no attention to it, as he had been working with Natsu on some mission and was quite used to not getting the full reward. Erza was mad for not getting the full reward, that she said she was going to use for buying the _limited edition Strawberry Shortcake. Monster Size_. Lucy was fuming since she needed the money to pay for her rent but it looked like she wasn't going to be able to pay it. Natsu and Happy with their usual grin, were not paying attention to anything at all.

Erza and Lucy decided that they had enough of this. Lucy and Erza walked slowy and let Natsu and Gray leave them behind as they walked towards the guild.

"Erza, don't you think Natsu has been quite of a nuisance lately" Lucy stated _'My rent'_ , the thought echoed on her mind.

"Yes, I think that too. Natsu has been indeed going overboard and destroying things" Erza said as a matter of factly, ' _My cake_ ' was the thought that kept ringing in her head.

"How about we take a mission tomorrow without Natsu" Lucy suggested

"Well, I don't really want to hurt his feelings" Erza thought about what Natsu would feel.

"He doesn't need to know. Let's leave early in the morning, and when he finds out let's say that he wasn't at the guild at that time and we had to leave" Lucy confidently stated.

"I suppose that would work. Shall we tell Gray?" Erza said nodding in agreement with Lucy's plan.

"Yeah, I think" Lucy sheepishly said

At the moment Natsu had arrived at the guild, one of the infamous guild brawls started.

"Gray, pssttt. Come here" Erza called out to Gray who just bitch slapped Elfman.

"What is it Erza?" Gray asked with fear and nervousness.

"Tomorrow morning, we'll leave on another mission" Erza said.

"Yeah sure, I'll tell Natsu" Gray was about to walk away and inform the dragon slayer when Erza grabbed him by the neck, since he had no shirt on.

"No, it's just you, me and Lucy" Erza whispered, to which Gray's reaction was of shock.

"Why are we going without Natsu" Gray asked.

"Well, every mission he's with us. He always goes overboard and ends up losing most of the reward. _And my cake_ " Erza murmured the last part.

"Well, that's flame-brain all right" Gray just simply stated.

"Are you in or out? Think about it, without Natsu, we would be able to get the full reward" Lucy said, who emerged from nowhere, which startled Gray.

"Uh, okay. But what if he finds out?" Gray asked nervously.

"We got it covered, besides he's too much of an idiot" Lucy said.

"Uh, okay. See you tomorrow" Gray said, starting to walk away from the too.

"Remember Gray, early morning." Lucy said, as they parted ways. Gray joining the brawl, Lucy walking towards the bar, and Erza preparing to stop the fight.

"ENOUGH" Erza shouted, and immediately everyone froze on the spot. Erza didn't notice the pink-haired dragon slayer.

"Where's Natsu?" she asked the crowd, an aura of pain for those who lied surrounded her.

Elfman just pointed a finger at the roof, where a human-shaped hole was.

Erza just released a sigh.

On the roof of the guild, was the pink-haired Dragon Slayer. Quiet and just looking at Magnolia. His _family_ had underestimated his hearing skills. Natsu just stayed there and kept looking at Magnolia as day turned to night.

* * *

This story was adopted from **deranged kazuna55.** I'll be keeping with the timeline and reasons for Team Natsu's actions described below by the **deranged kazuna55:**

Now to explain some MAJOR DETAILS IN THE STORY:

This took place just right after the GALUNA ISLAND ARC.

Lucy thought about ditching Natsu because she needs money to pay for her rent, which is behind my two months, and not getting the full reward. She is tired of it.

Erza thought about ditching Natsu because of the unnecessary destruction and was sick of it. Another contributing factor was there was a THE MONSTER SIZE: STRAWBERRY CAKE and she didn't have enough money to buy it. And if you're going to ask, why she didn't buy it with her savings. Well let's just say it's worth more than her savings.

Gray just wanted to try a job peacefully and get the reward fully.


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Fairy Tail or the characters. Those are all Mashima's.

This story is adopted from **deranged kazuna55**

Don't have a pairing for this story yet. I'll tell you how that's gonna' work at the bottom.**

* * *

 **~~~~~~Early the next morning~~~~~~**

"What kind of request did you pick out Erza?" Lucy looked curiously at the piece of paper the scarlet-haired requip knight.

Erza just turned the paper in her hands so the blonde mage could read it.

"Apprehend a group of mercenary mages who are holding a local lord hostage in his own castle?" She blinked. "You picked an S-class mission?"

Erza shrugged her shoulders. "I only picked it because there was nothing on the regular board that would pay enough to cover your two months of missing rent after we split it 3 ways. It's one of the easiest S-class quests, so it shouldn't' be a problem for us." The job request paid out 480,000 jewel. After doing the math, Lucy realized that would leave her with an extra 20,000 to spend after she paid her rent for two months.

She then turned toward the door. "The problem is Gray. If that idiot is much later he's gonna' make us miss our chance to sneak off before Natsu shows up and ruins it."

As if on cue, the raven-haired mage came running into the guild hall. In his boxers. "Sorry I'm late Erza! Don't kill me!"

Erza frowned. "I'll let it go this time only because we need to get out of here before Natsu gets here. But if you're not dressed by the time we get to the train station your punishment will be doubled."

Gray paled and instantly ran out to look for his clothes, not even bothering to ask about the request. Erza and Lucy followed at a much more leisurely pace.

Unknown to them, a pair of onyx orbs watched them depart from a dark corner of the guild hall. _I guess they're really going through with it,_ Natsu thought, a few stray tears dripping down his cheeks.

But he brushed them away quickly and departed the guild, quietly so that Mirajane – the only other person in the guild, wouldn't notice him leave. No point in making a scene about what was going to happen.

 **~~~~~~Magnolia Train Station~~~~~~**

"So Erza, what kind of job are we doing?" Gray asked, fully clothed and apparently remembering to stay that way thanks to Erza's earlier threat.

Erza handed him the request, and he read it quickly. "An S-class job? Great! I can't wait to rub this one in flame-brain's face!"

"That probably wouldn't be a good idea Gray," Erza said. "Natsu will be hurt enough when he discovers we left him behind for a job. It's better if he doesn't know I took you guys on an S-class job without him."

"What?!" Gray Protested. "There's no point in going on an S-class job if I can't even talk shit to pinky about it!"

"The point is that we'll all have some spare jewels after this," Erza said. _And I'll have enough to buy my limited edition strawberry shortcake: monster size._ She didn't notice the drool that was hanging from her lip as she thought about the heavenly dessert that was waiting for her to conquer it.

"Exactly." Lucy said. "Just about getting a few extra jewels without having to pay extra for collateral damage." _And I'll be able to catch up on my rent._

"I guess it will be more peaceful without flame brain around." _I still want to rub his face in it._

"You know, it's kind of nice to not have to worry that Natsu might puke all over me," Lucy said with a small laugh.

"True," Erza agreed. _Though I admit I kinda' miss his warm head on my lap after I knock him out…_

"Yeah, but that means I also don't get to make fun of him for getting taken out by a fucking train." Gray said with a smirk.

Erza and Lucy couldn't help laughing. That was one that never got old. The powerful Natsu Dragneel, possessor of the magic that was supposed to be capable of taking down dragons, rendered unable to do anything simply by being placed on a moving vehicle.

"You know, that can be kind of a hindrance for our quests too," Lucy commented. "I mean, we basically have to avoid any quests that might involve actively fighting on transportation, even if they could be easy for the amount of pay."

"That is true," Erza said.

"Yeah." Gray said. "Now that you mention it, flame-brain does kind of limit us."

"All it would take would be a bit of transportation and he'd become useless in a fight. And then we'd have to try to protect him," Lucy said.

The conversation continued that way till they got as close as they could to the village, which was a 5 hour train ride. They moved on into a horse-drawn wagon after that to travel the rest of the way.

 **~~~~~~Near the border of Magnolia~~~~~~**

"Well Happy, this time we'll definitely find Igneel!" Natsu pumped his fist cheerfully in the air, but his eyes still contained a hint of sadness as he remembered how his team had talked about him. Perhaps what hurt the most was that it was all instigated by Lucy, who probably owed him more than anyone else in the guild, including her even coming to Fairy Tail.

"Aye Sir!" The blue exceed grinned cheerfully, pumping his fist into the air.

 _Sorry I'm too destructive Lucy. But if not for me you'd be someone's fuck toy,_ he thought. _But now you all can have your wish. I won't be on your team for at least a couple more years. Cause I ain't coming back till I'm at least as strong as Gildarts._

As he left Magnolia behind him he couldn't help the bitter thought. _I hope your precious jewels are worth it._

 **~~~~~~Near sunset, in a remote village~~~~~~~**

"I think that's everyone," Erza panted, struggling to maintain her combat pose. Gray and Lucy were both badly winded and injured. Lucy was on both knees, and barely had enough magic power to summon Plue. Gray wasn't in much better condition.

"They weren't supposed to be so tough," Gray mumbled through clenched teeth. "But I think we got them all anyway."

"Indeed." Erza let her combat posture drop and requipped back to her standard Heart Kruz armor. Gray dropped to his knees, exhausted. "Let's get the lord of the castle and tell the townspeople the good news…"

Suddenly she was interrupted by a slow, steady clap. Gritting her teeth, Erza jumped back into a combat stance as a new mage approached, dressed in loose fitting red clothing and wearing a hood.

"I've got to congratulate you guys. You actually managed to take out all my minions," the man said with a smirk. "But I'm afraid I can't let you take Lord Rovsky's castle. I have such wonderful plans for this place."

His tone suddenly changed, his voice becoming harsh, cold, and even otherworldly as he uttered. "Fires of the sun consume you: Heaven's inferno!"

A fireball formed in front of him, so hot that the mages were instantly drenched in sweat just from their proximity to it. Erza smirked. "A fire mage, huh. How unfortunate for you." She just waited as the fireball approached, waiting for Natsu to jump in front of them and devour his favorite food…

"SHIT!" She dove out of the way as the realization hit her that their resident dragon slayer wouldn't be devouring these flames to recharge his power, but she was unable to fully avoid the attack. Enough of the fireball hit to deplete the remainder of her energy, as hard as she was fighting it, she ended up blacking out.

 **~~~~~~Three Days Later~~~~~~**

Erza blinked slowly as her eyes opened. Her body ached everywhere, and her head was pounding like a bass drum. The blurry room began to come into focus around her. She was in Fairy Tail's infirmary.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she forced her body into a sitting position. The door opened, and she made out Makarov coming in.

"Erza, you're awake." He said, relief in his voice.

Erza nodded stiffly. "What happened, master?" she asked.

"I was hoping you could tell me." Makarov replied.

"Last thing I remember was getting knocked out by a fire attack from the leader of the mercenaries…" She replied, searching her mind for more but finding nothing. "How did we get here?"

"Two days ago, around noon, a train came into Magnolia. You, Lucy, and Gray were all strapped to boards on the top of the train with a note telling us this was a message and we'd better stay away from the town. We got you to the infirmary as quickly as we could, but even with Porlyusica's skill you were out for two days, and she thinks Gray and Lucy will be unconscious for at least a week."

"Ugh," Erza rubbed her temples with her fingers. "I'm sorry master. We failed to complete the request." She feared they'd damaged Fairy Tail's reputation.

Makarov sighed. "I'm not worried about that child. Laxus and the Raijinshuu completed the task after you came back in that condition. They just came back an hour ago to announce their success. As for me, I'm just glad to see you're alright."

Erza looked around the infirmary, taking in the atmosphere. Porlyusica was busying herself over two other cots that held Lucy and Gray. Nobody else seemed to be around. In fact, she didn't even here the noise of the boisterous brawl that should be going on right now if Laxus was successful. "The guild seems awfully quiet today, master."

Makarov nodded. "That's a conversation we'll have to have when you're feeling better."

Erza turned to the master. "If there's something going on, I want to know now."

Makarov sighed. "Erza, trust me when I say that this can wait for a few days."

Erza frowned, still addressing the master. "If there's something wrong I want to know about it now. And you know me well enough to know that I'm not going to give up until you tell me."

Makarov stared at her for several minutes, then sighed. "Wait here." He disappeared into the guild for a minute, then came back holding a sheet of paper. He handed it to her wordlessly. Erza took the paper, looking at the master in confusion.

"Read it," he said, his face indicating he wasn't going to tell her anything further.

She started reading the note.

"Hey Gramps,

By the time you get this I'll be long gone. Don't bother looking for me. Me and happy went to find Igneel. And don't worry about the guild. You guys are better off without a loser like me anyway.

Here's all my savings. There's enough here to give Lucy, Erza and Gray a hundred thousand jewels each. I think. I never was great at counting. Hopefully that'll make up for some of the reward money they're always losing because I'm there dragging them down. If there's anything leftover after that keep it. Maybe it'll help pay for some of the stuff I destroyed.

Anyway, don't worry about me and Happy. We would've searched for Igneel sooner if I wasn't too much of an idiot to realize I wasn't really wanted here. We'll be back in a couple years or so.

Natsu (and Happy)

A shadow came over Erza's eyes. "That idiot," she almost yelled as she started marching toward the infirmary door, ignoring the pain that came with each step. She didn't get far before she ran into Makarov, who stood impassively blocking her way.

"Just where do you think you're going?" He asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" She tried to step around only to have him step in front of her. "I'm going to bring that idiot back where he belongs."

"No, you're not. You need to rest, and besides, he already has 3 days start. If he doesn't want to be found, there's no way you'll find him."

"Three days?" Erza's mouth dropped open.

Makarov sighed. "This happened the same morning you guys left for the quest. Mira was getting the bar ready before the rest of the guild came. She went down to the storeroom after you guys left, and when she came back up this letter was there, along with close to 500,000 jewels. She was crying when I came in to the guild."

Erza's mind went into overdrive when she heard that. The same morning? He couldn't possibly have heard them talking could he? She set out again, looking even more determined. "All the more reason for me to find him."

"No," Makarov said again. "I have a feeling Natsu doesn't want to be found right now anyway, and you still need to heal from your injuries. He'll come back when he's ready."

"That might not be for a couple years!" Erza yelled, not caring that the rest of the guild could probably hear her. "He can't be gone for that long!"

"Relax, Erza." Makarov said with a sigh. "Believe me when I say I want him to come back just as much as you do, but going out after him isn't going to bring him back. We must let him follow his own path. Now get back in bed."

Erza growled as she reluctantly obeyed the master, slipping back into the infirmary bed. She set it in her mind that she would find Natsu and drag him back to the guild where he belonged. Then she would teach him not to leave his family that way.

Then she fell asleep, and slid into dark dreams…

* * *

Alright, here's what I want to do for the pairings.

First let me stress that the pairings you guys decide on will determine the path of the story from this point forward.

Now, the way I would like for this to work is for you guys to tell me who you think the pairing should be. There are a few that will not happen and some that probably won't happen. I'll list those beneath. I'm going to update a couple of my other stories, which should take me at least a week or two, and when I get back to writing chapter 3 of this story I'll take whichever pairing has the most requests - with certain limitations.

So here are the pairings with no or limited possibility:

 **Pairings that will not happen no matter what:**

 **NaLu**

 **NaWen**

 **Navia**

 **NatsuxAny Celestial Spirit**

 **Any Yaoi ships**

 **Pairings that will probably not happen:**

 **Naza (as much as I like this pairing, the setting of this story makes it extremely unlikely. The only reason this is in the 'probably not' section is because I'm a hardcore Naza shipper)**

 **NatsuxHisui (Nasui?)**

 **NatsuxLevy**

 **NatsuxLisanna**

 **And a couple special rules:**

If somebody is in the "probably not" category, they will win the pairing unless they have a very substantial lead over all other possible pairings. So, for example, if 10 people asked for Mirajane and 15 people asked for Erza, Mira would still end up as the pairing because Erza is in the probably not category. However, if 10 people asked for Mirajane and 20 people asked for Erza, Erza could end up being the ship.

Kyouka and Sayla/Seilah area a package deal in any story I write.

I refuse to ship Gray with anyone except Juvia

I refuse to ship Jellal with Erza

Aaand... I think that's it.

Let me know if you want to see a pairing. And thank you deranged kazuna55 for giving me permission to adopt :)

 **UDATE: Poll added with top 5 pairing requests - vote for the one you want to see!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own Fairy Tail or the Characters. Mashima owns those. I just write these stories from time to time.

Ok... First things first. I'm closing the poll (As promised). Here are the final results:

Levy (surprisingly, to me at least) 23 votes

Mirajane 21 votes

Sayla and Kyouka 17 votes

Ultear 8 votes

Minerva 6 votes

Levy was originally in my _probably not_ category, but she had a sizable lead in the polls for a while so I thought a lot about the pairing and figured out how I would do it. So now that I put all that time into thinking about it and she's still in the lead, NatsuxLevy will be the pairing for this story. Pairing will happen slowly as there is a lot to write before Natus even makes it back to the guild yet.

Oh yeah, and I really didn't feel like writing out the Tower of Heaven arc, so I kind of summarized the changes that Natsu's absence caused.**

* * *

 **~~~~~~A forest in Fiore~~~~~~**

"Wow, that took a lot out of me…" Natsu panted, trying to catch his breath as the last dark mage fell. The group that attacked him hadn't been that powerful. But he was using more of his magic power than he needed to for the fight. He wasn't yet used to fighting without having other people to back him up. "I guess I have a little to learn about fighting solo."

"Aye sir!" Happy grinned.

"Alright Happy! I'm hungry! We're going fishing!"

"AYE SIR!"

The lesson forgotten as quickly as it was learned, the duo headed out to a river they were sticking close to and cast their lines in. It wasn't long before Natsu got a bite, and pulled a 3 and a half foot fish out of the river.

"ALRIGHT!" He grinned. "Got a big one!"

As he prepared his fish, Happy pulled another, smaller fish from the river. Happy's fish was about 18 inches, but that was big enough for the exceed to be happy about it.

"So where are we going next, Natsu?" Happy asked. "We didn't find anything here except those dark mages, and the bandits that we met on the way out of there."

"I dunno. I think maybe we'll head north," Natsu said with a shrug. "I'm gonna explore all of Fiore first, and then we can go on and look at some other places."

"Aye Sir!"

They were walking for maybe 5 minutes before Happy started complaining. "Natsu…"

"What is it Happy?"

"I'm hungry."

"Already? You just ate!"

"Your fish was like 3 times as big as mine!"

"Well whose fault was that?"

"Natsu, you're mean!"

"Pfff. Shut up cat."

"Natsu… feed me!"

Suddenly Natsu stopped, sniffing the air. He then put his nose to the ground and began sniffing around.

"Umm, Natsu?" Happy sweat-dropped.

"Shh!" Natsu continued sniffing. First one way, then another. Then he pointed to a path through the foliage. "Something smells like dragon around here! And the trail goes that way!"

"Dragon? You mean we found Igneel?!" Happy shouted excitedly.

Natsu shook his head. "Not Igneel. For one, it's definitely a female. But I would also know Igneel if I smelled him again. But maybe this dragon knows what happened to Igneel. Let's go find out!"

"AYE SIR!"

The two took off running, stopping only every once in a while for Natsu to make sure that he was following the scent correctly. Eventually they came to something that surprised them. A small, humble looking wizard's guild in the middle of the forest. The sign identified the guild as Cait Shelter, and an old man stepped forward to greet them.

"May I help you?" He asked.

"Where's the dragon?!" Natsu asked excitedly.

"Dragon?" The old man blinked at him. "I don't know what you're talking about, young one. Dragon's haven't roamed earthland for 400 years. Well, except Acnologia, and I certainly wouldn't know where that villain is."

"Don't mess with me," Natsu growled. "I know there's a dragon here. I can smell her."

"Her?" Suddenly the old man's eyes widened. "Oh. You must mean Wendy."

"There's a dragon named Wendy?"

"She's not a dragon, she's a dragon slayer. And if you tracked her here by scent I can only assume you are also. Especially considering your interest in dragons. Might you perhaps be the one known as Natsu Dragneel?"

"How do you know my name?"

"It is you then. Good. You see, Wendy was really excited when she learned there was another dragon slayer out there. We do our best for her here at Cait Shelter, but she's still really lonely, and when rumors of a fire dragon slayer reached us, she's been longing to meet you ever since."

"Is that right?" Natsu rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

The old man nodded. "Actually, I have a favor to ask of you. If you would, I would like you to look after Wendy from here on out. This guild was actually created just for her, but I'm afraid a bunch of old men like us can't very well provide the kind of family she needs."

"And you're asking me to, even though you don't even know me?"

The man laughed. "I can see a lot deeper than most, and I know you'll take good care of her. You can even introduce her to that guild of yours, once you're done running of course."

"Pfff." Natsu scoffed, putting up an annoyed front even though he was a little weirded out by how the stranger knew he was taking time away from the guild. "I guess if she wants to come with me…"

"I'm sure she will." The man smiled. Then he turned and called inside. "Come on out Wendy! There's someone here that wants to meet you!"

A small, fragile looking girl in a green dress peeked out of the guild, looking at Natsu with wide, brown eyes. Her long blue hair was tied back in two long strands to the side, reaching all the way down past her shoulders.

 _Kawaii!_ Natsu thought, though he was shocked that she was so young. When the man said dragon slayer, he was expecting someone closer to his age. This girl couldn't be any older than 12!

"Natsu-san?!" Wendy said, surprise and awe in her voice as she stepped out of the guild.

"That's me," Natsu grinned widely at her, holding out a hand. "It's nice to meet you Wendy…"

He was surprised when the girl ran forward and launched herself at him, her arms wrapping around him in a tight hug. "Are you.. Are you really a dragon slayer?" She asked.

"Of course," Natsu grinned. "I'm the fire dragon slayer."

"D-do you know where your dragon is?"

"Nope." Natsu shook his head. "In fact, me and Happy just left on a journey to find him. He disappeared 7 years ago on July 7."

"Yours too? That's when Grandeeney disappeared…"

"Oh…" Natsu said. "I was hoping she could tell me about Igneel."

"I'm sorry," Wendy said, separating from him with a faint tint of pink on her cheeks.

"No need to apologize," Natsu answered with a grin.

Just then a white exceed [A/N Yes, I am aware that none of them know what exceeds are called right now] came out of the guild.

"Wendy, why are you acting so friendly with this strange man?"

"Well," Wendy said. "Natsu's a dragon slayer like me."

"Natsu? As in Fairy Tail's Salamander? The most destructive mage in Fiore?" Carla's disapproval was clear in her voice.

"Well I would expect him to be destructive. He is a fire dragon's son after all!" Wendy retorted, defending Natsu.

Natsu didn't know why, but he was very happy that the younger girl actually spoke up for him. When Carla called him the "most destructive mage in Fiore" it brought back memories of his family leaving without him. Kicking him off his own team for a quest just so they could come home with more jewels. When Wendy defended him against the attack it made him feel like he had a new family again. One that wouldn't look down on him just because he always felt compelled to go all out on his requests.

"Hey Wendy!" He grinned. "Why don't you come with me? We can look for Igneel and Grandeeney together!"

"B-but I c-c-couldn't.." she stammered. "I h-have a guild here."

"They'll be cool with it, right guys?"

The man who met them, along with a few others, all nodded with approval. "Go with him Wendy. This whole guild here only exists for you anyway, and we can't take you any further than we already have. Natsu is from one of the biggest guilds, and possibly the best guild, in Fiore. When you're done searching for your dragons, I'm sure he'll bring you back there and you'll make lots of new friends."

"And I'll catch you lots of fish Carla!" Happy exclaimed cheerfully.

"Hmph!" Carla looked away, ignoring Happy completely as she walked past him to Wendy.

After her decision was made, Wendy said her goodbyes to the guild of Cait Shelter and headed off with Natsu, who continued his journey north through the forest.

 **~~~~~~Fairy Tail~~~~~~**

A few weeks had passed since Team Natsu became Team Natsu minus Natsu. Everyone was recovered from their injuries now, but in a shocking turn of events Loke revealed himself to be a celestial spirit, Leo the Lion, and now Lucy was in possession of his gate key. Loke apparently possessed 4 tickets to Akane Beach Resort, which he then gave to Lucy. Lucy in turn invited Erza, Gray, and Levy to go with her.

That was when the unthinkable happened. Erza was kidnapped! By her old "friends" from a tower she was enslaved in as a young girl, no less. Lucy, Gray, and Levy gave chase, and with the help of Erza's old friend Simon they managed to defeat some of the assassins sent to keep them from rescuing Erza. They fought valiantly, but Gray, Lucy, and Levy ended up defeated, taking a boat back to shore at Simon's instruction as the council prepared to fire Etherion.

Simon died at the tower, and Erza was merged with the crystal as the sacrifice for Zeref's resurrection.

There was no body to bury, but a grave was dug nonetheless in a place of honor at the cathedral graveyard. Everyone in Fairy Tail mourned the loss of their friend and protector.

After the R System was activated, Jellal Fernandez was livid. This was supposed to resurrect Zeref! Why hadn't it worked? Where was the black wizard whose arrival he was promised?

"Jellal," he was surprised, and angry, to hear the voice of Ultear, his conspirator on the council and in planning the R-system.

"What the fuck Ultear?!" He yelled. "It didn't work! Zeref's not back. And now I sacrificed Erza for nothing and put a big magic council target on my back!"

"It did work, though. Zeref is alive. Just not at this location," Ultear said with a quiet smirk. "My master knows where to find them."

"Your master?" Jellal stared at the girl. "I thought you worked for the council."

"I infiltrated the council, just like you." She replied. "My master is a very powerful wizard, and the leader of a dark guild that is good at staying in the shadows…"

"A dark guild?" Jellal eyed her suspiciously. "There are only 3 that would be at all worth entering."

"Indeed, and I belong to one of those 3. My master is Master Hades of Grimoire Heart. I am one of his strongest mages known as the 7 kin of purgatory." She smirked at him before adding, "I'm sure I could convince him to let you join, though. If you're powerful enough to be of interest, Master Hades may even teach you a lost magic."

"Lost magic? Is there something wrong with my heavenly body magic?" Jellal sneered.

"Oh, nothing at all. But lost magic, like my arc of time, is more powerful than any magic known to the magic world today. So by learning it, you could become even more powerful. And soon we will find Zeref…"

Jellal thought about it for a few minutes. Then shrugged mentally. Why not? He had nothing to lose by joining this dark guild, and everything to gain. If the master was truly as powerful as she claimed, he would be sure to get some personal profit out of it. And there was still the tempting possibility of finding Zeref.

"Very well," he said. "Take me to this Hades."

By the end of the day, Grimoire Heart had a second ace, whose power might even trump Bluenote Stinger.

* * *

Next chapter will be more detailed. It will focus on Natsu and Wendy's continued journey and training and the start of the Battle for Fairy Tail. Without Erza and Natsu there, who will beat Laxus and lead the guild in taking down the thunder palace? Who will beat Evergreen and free the stone fairies? These answers and more in your next installment of "LOST."

Again, thanks to deranged kazuna55 for allowing me to adopt this :)

Oh, and drop a review if you don't mind. It'd be awfully nice of you and I'd appreciate it so so much.


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own Fairy Tail or the characters. Hiro Mashima owns those.

So here's chapter 4. As promised, things will get a little more detailed from this point forward. A large part of this is going to be focused on the effect Natsu's absence from the guild will have in the next couple arcs, but I'll try to spend equal time on Natsu and Wendy (as well as Happy and Carla of course) and their training.**

* * *

"What are you doing now, Natsu-nii?" Wendy asked her big brother. He was currently sitting with his legs crossed, elbows resting on his knees with his pinkies, ring fingers, and forefingers pressed together, while his middle fingers and thumbs folded down.

"A technique my father taught me that I never took the time to use before," Natsu replied quietly. "I can use this technique to force my magic power out of my body till I have barely enough reserves to stay conscious. Then, when we do physical training, my magic won't supplement my physical power."

"Whoa." Wendy looked at him in awe. "Grandeeney never taught me anything like that…"

"Igneel taught it to me just before he left," Natsu said, his features drawing into a sad frown as he held the meditation pose. "He said I wasn't ready for it before then, and since you were much younger when Grandeeney left you, that means you probably couldn't learn the technique yet."

"Oh…" Wendy said quietly, suddenly saddened as they talked about their dragons. She remembered the day she woke up to discover she was alone. If not for that Jellal kid, she might not even have survived. _I wonder what Jellal is doing these days…_

"I can teach you, if you want." Natsu said, his smile returning to his face. "It's not that tough, really!"

"O-ok Natsu-nii." Wendy said, blushing and looking at the ground. "If you really think I can do it."

"Of course you can Wendy. You know, you've done nothing but doubt yourself since I met you. Grandeeney's daughter should have more confidence!"

"But – you barely know me, Natsu-nii…" Wendy continued to look at the ground. As much as she wanted to be encouraged by the words Natsu offered, Natsu had never met Grandeeney. And he didn't know her at all. She possessed neither the combat strength nor the healing capabilities that she should as a sky dragon slayer. In fact, she often worried that she would hold Natsu back and wondered if it would be better for her to run back to Cait Shelter.

"For once I agree with the buffoon," Carla spoke up from behind her, sounding annoyed. "You have no reason to be so timid, Wendy."

"Carla…" Wendy flushed as the exceed scolded her. But she was spared any further reprimand by Happy's sudden return from fishing.

"CARLA!" Happy called out happily. "I got a fish for you!"

"Hmph!" Carla just looked away. "How many times do I have to tell you I don't like fish."

"But… All cats like fish…"

"Hmph…"

As they argued, Natsu's voice cut through the commotion for her. "Alright Wendy, are you ready to learn?"

"I-I guess Natsu-nii…" She didn't know for sure that she was ready. What if she messed it up and made herself look like an idiot to the older dragon slayer?

"Alright," Natsu smiled. "It will take some time to fully master it, but the first step is to imitate my position."

Wendy sat down, carefully crossing her legs and bringing her hands together. Letting her elbows rest on her knees, she brought her hands together, allowing the pinky, ring, and forefingers of each hand to remain upright as they pressed together while folding her thumb and her middle finger down. "Like this?"

"Exactly like that," Natsu said with a grin. "Now, for the next step I want you to close your eyes. Pretend that you're the only thing that exists in the universe. Take really deep breaths until everything outside of you fades out and you can feel every muscle, every bone, every blood vessel in your body. Once you're there, you need to find your magic. I can't really explain it very well, because it's a somewhat unique feeling for every person, but I can tell you that you'll know when you feel it. Once you get that far, come out of your trance and I'll explain the next part to you."

Wendy smiled uncertainly as she closed her eyes as she instructed. How could she pretend she was the only thing in the universe when Happy and Carla's voices echoed so loudly in the back of her mind? Didn't meditation require peace and tranquility?

"Don't listen to your doubts," Natsu's voice suddenly cut in. "You can achieve a state of meditation anywhere. It's easiest to start in a quiet environment, but this will be good practice for you."

 _How did he know I was doubting myself? Am I that obvious?_ Wendy relaxed her body as much as she could, trying to focus inwardly as the noise around her slowly began to fade. She heard the far off songs of forest birds and stilled those. She heard the rustle of the sweet mountain winds through the trees, and she stilled it. She heard the murmur of a far-off river, and she stilled that. She heard Carla's quiet, almost regal voice, and stilled that.

But Happy… His voice grated on her piece like sandpaper on an open wound. Like lemon juice on a fresh cut. Even when everything else was still, his loud tenor would slice through her calm and unfocus her mind for just long enough. She couldn't fall into deep meditation like this.

 _Frustration._ She heard that in her mind and stilled it. Then started the process over again. Until once more she was down to Happy. Happy. She needed to still that voice too. Yet there it was, louder than an alarm clock going off too early on Saturday morning. Piercing the depths of her trance-like state despite her best efforts. That cat just needed to SHUT THE HELL UP!

Silence. Complete and utter silence. Wendy smiled inwardly. Apparently her subconscious desire had somehow manifested in the real world. Happy wasn't speaking…

"Wow Wendy, I didn't know you had it in you." Natsu-nii's voice. What was he talking about?"

"I'm sorry Wendy, I'll go back to fishing now." Happy's voice, sounding a little sad. Wait did she…?

"Wendy, I have to say I'm impressed. You're finally sticking up for yourself." Carla's voice.

Wendy fell out of her meditation stance, mortified. She'd actually said the words, not thought them. Her hands came up over her mouth as she rose, her face flushing a deep red. "Oh no! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that out loud…"

But Happy was already gone. She looked at Natsu-nii, mortified, but the older dragon slayer just had an amused twinkle in his eye. "He'll be fine Wendy, now go back to meditating…"

"But Natsu-nii, I…"

"Go ahead," he cut her off. "You want to learn this technique, and now's your chance to do it without having to worry about Happy interrupting you all the time."

Wendy nodded and went back to her meditative stance, pushing the feelings of guilt aside. Natsu was right. She needed to master this technique so she could improve. Maybe if she got stronger Natsu-nii would bring her back to that guild the old man was talking about and she could meet all his other friends. Though, it seemed that whenever she talked about that guild his eyes lost some of their smile. She suddenly wondered if he had bad history with his guild. Maybe they didn't like him…

No, she couldn't imagine anyone not liking Natsu-nii. He was always so cheerful and threw himself into everything he did! Not to mention how kindly he always treated her. But still, something bothered him about his guild.

 _Focus Wendy_. She pushed the turmoil from her mind and finally encountered stillness. She began to understand the trance state that Natsu described. It was as though she were acutely aware of every molecule in her body. Everything that was happening, from the heartbeat that pumped the blood through her to the calm, relaxed muscles and the slight tension on the appropriate ones. Then there was something else. Something more… elusive than the rest of her. Every time she tried to grasp it in her consciousness, it slipped away. Like the breeze slipping through her hair and escaping into the forests and meadows beyond. It was almost like…

Magic! The realization dawned on her. So this is what magic felt like! Now wonder Natsu-nii hadn't really been able to describe it to her. The feeling was… indescribable, really. Even the words and images that came to her mind couldn't adequately describe how it really felt. It was like absolute freedom. The power to take to the sky and go anywhere, do anything. When she focused on it, she felt like the very wind itself, unrestrained by distance, or height. It was a euphoric feeling for her, as though she were the sky itself!

After a few minutes of enjoying the feeling of being one with her magic, Wendy snapped herself out of her trance. As her eyes opened, her senses filled once again with the business of the world around her, and she was aware of it on a whole new level. The rough mixture of grass and leaves against her legs, the warm sunlight on her arms and face. The sound of the wind rustling through the leaves not far away, and of Happy's fishing line swishing as he threw it into the river somewhere beyond those trees. The sound of Natsu-nii's deep, even breathing, and the gentle, yet palpable heat that his body gave off even from this distance. Even the colors that flooded into her eyes seemed brighter. Vibrant greens and browns from the forest around them. A few hints of yellow, white, and red from the flowers in the clearing they occupied. The bright blue of the sky, stretching out endlessly past the trees that obscured it in all directions. The cool breath of a mountain breeze against her neck.

"Natsu-nii," she said tentatively. He didn't answer. Now she was in a dilemma. What should she do? Natsu was obviously deep in his own trance at this point, and the only thing that she could do if she wanted him to awaken was actually physically shake him. But could she actually do that?

"Natsu-nii!" She tried calling him louder, a little more insistently. "Natsu-nii! I'm ready for the next part!"

It was to no avail. Wendy sighed and slowly got to her feet, walking over to the meditating dragon slayer. "Natsu-nii!" She shook his shoulder gently. Still no response.

"NATSU-NII!" She shook him a little harder. Still nothing. Ok. This was getting a little ridiculous. She knew he was in a trance, but…

"NATSU-NII!" She summoned her breath, meaning to give him a gentle gust to wake him up, but before she realized what she was doing she'd accumulated a powerful enough attack to damage an opponent. She turned to let it go into the forest, but then on impulse turned back to release it at the meditating dragon slayer in front of her.

The effect was instant. He toppled over several times as his eyes snapped open, half glaring at her. "Wendy, what the hell?!"

"I-I'm sorry!" Wendy yelped, mortified as she tried to shrink into the ground. "I don't know what came over me! You just wouldn't wake up, and I got so frustrated…"

"Oh… My bad," Natsu rubbed the back of his head ruefully. "So does this mean you're ready to advance to the next phase of this technique? Wow Wendy, you learn really quickly." Natsu praised her.

"Th-thanks Natsu," Wendy mumbled, looking at the ground.

"Well," Natsu said, "the next part is a little trickier. You have to figure out how to push your magic out of you. It's something that I can't really tell you how to do, because every magic is different. It won't be easy, because you can't really grab hold of it. You have to just kind of direct it… And the longer you do it, the more tired you get. You'll know you've pushed enough out when your trance starts breaking."

"That's not very helpful…" Wendy muttered to herself, but she knew she'd have to accept this explanation. So she moved back into the meditating position and slowly found her way to the absolute quiet of her mind again.

 **~~~~~~Fairy Tail~~~~~~**

The current atmosphere in the guild hall seemed so foreign to the members of the number one guild in Fiore.

It was almost time for the Fantasia festival. Yet a shadow of gloom still hovered over the the members of Fairy Tail. Yet none felt it more keenly than Lucy and Gray.

First Natsu left. From the letter he left behind it appeared he heard them planning to sneak off on a mission without them and took it really hard. Then, to make matters worse, They'd been unable to save Erza from her psycho childhood friend in the tower. Lucy had a nagging feeling that it would've worked out much better if only Natsu had been there.

Now Fairy Tail was preparing for a celebration that most of their hearts weren't feeling. Lucy noticed that Mira's perpetual smile seemed less genuine than usual, and often darkened completely when she or Gray was present. For this reason she avoided the bar maid as much as she could.

Levy was beginning to spend a lot of time hanging around with Gajeel, which Lucy thought was weird. After all, the iron dragon slayer was the one that injured Levy and the rest of team shadow gear. Though he'd sort of let them beat him up in order to gain acceptance. Still, even beyond that, their personalities were so different. Levy was smart. She loved reading, had a slim, almost fragile figure, and used solid script magic that was mainly good for supplementing combat for others.

But now Gajeel was off doing something for the master, and Lucy was enjoying spending some time with the solid script wizard. Levy was similar to her in some ways. They both liked reading. Neither of them were really fond of fighting. And Levy actually took an interest in the books Lucy wrote. Which meant she was smart enough to see that Lucy was a good author.

Levy's voice suddenly cut into her thoughts. "So are you going to join the miss Fairy Tail competition?"

"Miss Fairy Tail? What's that?"

"You don't know about it? It's a beauty contest that any female mage in Fairy Tail can join. The grand prize is 500,000 Jewels"

"500,000 JEWELS?!" Lucy cried out in shock. "That's like… 7 months worth of rent!"

"Yeah, it's quite a bit. Though Mirajane always wins…" Levy said with a sigh. "I don't really stand a chance with my body, but I'll enter it anyway."

"You shouldn't talk about yourself like that Levy," Lucy said even as she thought about how she would beat Mirajane this year. "I'm sure you'll do great."

"Thanks Lu-chan," Levy said with a smile. "Even if I know it's not sincere, it's nice to hear you say that."

"Why would you think it's not sincere?" Lucy asked, suddenly realizing she needed to go shopping. "I meant every word of it. You'll do great!" Before Levy could respond, she added, "But if you'll excuse me, I need to get some stuff before the contest." She quickly turned back toward Magnolia's shopping district and headed off.

 **~~~Later that Night~~~**

"I don't know why we need this competition when there's only one candidate for miss Fairy Tail, and she's right here!" Evergreen, a member of the Raijinshuu, declared as she took the stage, interrupting Lucy's debut in the Miss Fairy Tail beauty contest. Murmurs of disapproval rose from the crowd. "This silly contest is now over, and I win." She continued, ignoring the crowd.

"What do you think you're doing, Evergreen?" Lucy fumed, glaring at the blonde woman. "It's not your turn yet!"

"I hardly think that matters," Evergreen smirked as she tilted her glasses forward and off her eyes. Lucy wondered what in the world the girl was doing. Too late she heard Gray's voice. "Lucy! Don't look in her eyes!"

Moments later, Lucy Heartfilia joined the other statues that were formerly the participants in the Miss Fairy Tail contest. With Mira, Levy, Bisca, Juvia, Cana, and Lucy all petrified, Laxus and the Raijinshuu appeared to explain the rules of the Battle for Fairy Tail.

 **~~~~~~Mystogan~~~~~~**

Mystogan frowned as he entered Magnolia. All over the city Fairy Tail members were engaged in combat against other Fairy Tail members. He was able to avoid Freed's rune traps easily enough, but many others hadn't been so lucky. Right now, the Raijinshuu were running around taking down the victors of the smaller battles.

He sighed softly. What a terrible time for both Natsu and Erza to be gone. He could sense that Gajeel hadn't left the guild for some reason. There was only one thing to do then.

He would start with Evergreen. Once he forced her to use her magic to revert the statues, the others would be able to help. Levy would be able to figure out how to break the rune barrier around the guild. The other girls would be able to go out and fight against the remaining members of the Raijinshuu. And he would be able to stop Laxus.

It wasn't long before he found Evergreen. He knew he needed to end this quickly, so he pulled all 5 of the staffs behind his back out and quickly placed them on the ground in front of him.

He watched as Evergreen was caught up in the illusion, waiting for the moment of abject fear before intervening. "Release the others from your magic and this will stop here."

The blonde girl was quick to comply, panting heavily under the weight of the illusion she'd just experienced. As soon as he was certain the other girls were free, Mystogan used his sleep magic to knock the girl out and headed off to find Laxus, ignoring Bickslow's "babies" that attempted to attack him as he left. One of the women who was just liberated from the stone enchantment would find Bickslow and deal with him. The seith mage was no more than a small player in this game.

Soon he found Laxus in the Kardia Cathedral, and his blood boiled at the blonde man's self-righteous proclamations that there was no place for "weak" wizards in the guild. It was time to knock some sense back into the master's grandson, and Mystogan knew he was the only one there who could do that.

"Oh, there you are Mystogan. I never thought you would dare to participate in my little game." Laxus said as he approached.

"Deactivate the thunder palace and surrender," Mystogan said quietly, not wanting to get into a long, drawn-out battle.

"Oh? What luck!" Laxus smirked. "You and I are the only candidates left for who could be the strongest in Fairy Tail. Let's settle this right here, Mystogan, or should I say another—"

Before he could complete that sentence, Mystogan whipped out a staff and fired a beam of blue energy toward his opponent. The beam was countered by a lightning blast from Laxus, and the resulting explosion filled the room with smoke for an instant.

"You're going to regret that choice Laxus," Mystogan growled at the cocky lightning mage. "I'm going to show you a magic you've never seen before."

With that he cast his illusion, knowing that it wouldn't keep Laxus down long. But he just needed long enough. Long enough that he could finish the true spell he intended to hit the lightning mage with.

Sure enough, moments later the illusion magic was torn apart and there was Laxus, standing unharmed. "Did you really think a simple illusion was enough to take me down?" He asked arrogantly.

"As expected, but you're one step behind." Mystogan responded as his five-layered magic activated above Laxus. "Sacred Song!"

"I think you failed to notice something," Laxus said, still cocky as the blue energy beam descended on him.

"Shit!" Mystogan realized too late that Laxus had also started an attack. His lightning descended at the same time as the blue energy, as the mages took the full brunt of each others' attacks. Mystogan then used another attack, causing blue beams of energy to come up from the ground like enormous fingers, completely surrounding the lightning mage. But before they closed completely a spark of lightning jumped out of the impact area.

"He escaped," Mystogan muttered as he jumped back, turning his body to mist just in time to avoid the responding lightning attack. "I guess it's time to get serious…"

"Good. Same here," Laxus said with a smirk. "Lightning Dragon's Roar!"

Mystogan transformed his body to mist again, moving out of the way of the attack to reform behind Laxus this time. As quickly as he could, he moved his fingers into the appropriate positions, causing a number of blue beams of energy to converge on the lightning mage from all directions. As soon as he finished that, he started another attack, weaving his fingers into new patterns. Just before the beams converged, Laxus shot up out of it in his lightning form.

"Now I'm gonna' put you in your place…." Laxus smirked, just before a magic circle appeared above and below him and a huge ball of magic energy exploded with the lightning mage at its epicenter. The attack threw the lightning mage 20 feet into the cathedral walls.

"Dammit!" He cursed, getting back up and wiping his mouth. "Lightning Dragon's Breakdown Fist!"

Mystogan barely avoided the attack, quickly launching another beam of energy toward his opponent as he tumbled to the left. But he wasn't quick enough to avoid the next attack, a lightning bolt that threw him to the ground and tore his clothing, leaving part of his face exposed.

"Haha! You're just as weak as that pathetic Erza," Laxus said with a smirk. "Maybe if she weren't so weak she could still be here and the two of you could fight me together."

Mystogan shifted his position. "I don't really care how you talk about me, but do not speak ill of the dead." He then turned to mist, easily avoiding the next lightning attack Laxus threw at him. He reformed behind the lightning mage again, his staffs on the ground in front of him again, forming a pentagram.

"Five Layered Circle Magic: Sacred Siren!"

Large magic circles appeared above and below Laxus, and a beam shot down from the ceiling. "This again?" The lightning mage smirked, leaping backwards and away from the beam. But then the beam changed direction sharply, following Laxus and striking him full in the chest. He was again thrown back several feet, breaking the wall of the cathedral.

"Once the Siren's song reaches your ears, it is too late to escape," Mystogan said as he prepared his next spell, but he was interrupted before he could complete it by another blast of lightning.

"Bastard!" Laxus ground out. "Don't think you can look down on me." Lightning started gathering in his hands. Mystogan used the opportunity to start a spell of his own.

As the energy began to wrap around the lightning mage again, Mystogan saw the lightning spear coming at him, faster than his eye could follow. It was too late to transform to mist. He turned quickly, just missing the brunt of the attack, but was still thrown hard to the floor. His hood was completely torn off now, and he felt a warm trickle of liquid on the side of his forehead. His legs and arms hurt a little to move.

 _If I hadn't partially dodged that, I'd be out of the fight for sure._ He realized.

"Hahahaha! Like I said, weak!" Without even looking, Mystogan became mist again and moved out of the impact zone. He was just in time, as Laxus had attempted to hit him with a raging bolt to finish the fight.

"GAH!" Laxus roared, glaring at Mystogan. "I've had enough of this. Try escaping this one, asshole!" He took a stance that Mystogan recognized, and his eyes widened.

No, it couldn't be. Could the master's grandson really know that spell? Did the old man teach it to him? Or did he somehow figure it out for himself? More importantly, could it actually be cast _against_ Fairy Tail?

"Fairy Law!" Laxus said with a smirk, and the magic went out. But there was no pain. No defeat. Just a soothing, yellow light that washed over him and was gone.

Before Laxus had time to absorb the shock of the spell's failure, Jellal hit him again with the most powerful spell in his arsenal that could safely be used in the town.

"Five Layered Magic Circle: Sacred Lullaby!"

Purple-blue energy began to build up all over the room, till over 20 enormous balls of energy had formed. Then all of them converged on the lightning dragon slayer at once, the explosion throwing him through the cathedral wall and down to the street below. As Mystogan followed him out, Laxus struggled for a moment to get up. But the moment he regained his feet his body gave out, and he collapsed again, unconscious.

With a sigh, Mystogan sank to his knees, exhausted. The fight had taken a lot out of him, but that was to be expected when dealing with a wizard like Laxus. He wanted to rest now. To take some time to recover. But there were more important things he had to do first.

 **~~~~~~At Fairy Tail~~~~~~~**

Makarov breathed a sigh of relief as Laxus fell. After the girls were released, Levy found a way to get past Freed's runes, which allowed Gajeel to leave as well. Mira had defeated Freed. Lucy had somehow got the better of Bickslow. And Gajeel had headed up taking down the thunder palace. He felt an immense sense of relief wash over him as the battle for Fairy Tail ended, but his heart was heavy at what he must do.

"Master," he looked up, shocked, as Mystogan appeared before him, his clothing tattered from his battle. "I know what happened to Erza, but why isn't Natsu here?"

Makarov sighed. "Natsu decided to go on a training journey. I don't know much about what happened except that his team left on a job request without him, and they blame themselves for his absence."

"That could be troublesome when the Anima becomes impossible to control," Mystogan looked very serious.

"What part do you intend Natsu to play in that?" Makarov asked, concerned for the welfare of his child. He didn't know much about the world that Mystogan came from, but he wasn't certain he liked the fact that Natsu seemed to play some central part in Mystogan's ultimate plan to put an end to the Anima altogether.

"Natsu is a dragon slayer," Mystogan replied quietly. "If something happens to the mages of Earthland, he should be unaffected along with the other dragon slayers. If he is on a journey I will try to find him, though that may prove troublesome since I need to track down the rifts."

"That doesn't answer my question," Makarov said, looking intently at the blue-haired mage.

"Natsu and Gajeel will have an important role to play in stopping Edolas from sucking the magic out of Earthland." Mystogan said, again not answering the question, much to Makarov's chagrin. "But that is all I can say at the moment. I will let you get to your guild now."

And with that, he was gone. And Makarov was left to go out and do his duties as the third master of Fairy Tail.

* * *

**Ok - I think that chapter was a little longer. :) Read and review as always. **


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own Fairy Tail or anything in it. That all belongs to Mashima.

So... I kind of need some input again, and I won't put a poll up since I plan to keep my current poll running till I actually start my next story.

Essentially, this story can go one of two ways. One way will have Natsu end up on Tenroujima. The other will have Natsu stay back from Tenroujima. What happens in these cases will have major ramifications later in the story, but I'm not going to tell you what they'll be, just to make it more fun. ;)

So... read and review as always!**

* * *

"Natsu-nii, do you think we could stop in the next town we come to?" Wendy asked, currently sitting next to the older dragon slayer. She noticed that so far the older dragon slayer seemed to avoid towns, living off the fish they caught in the river and occasional other animals. While Wendy couldn't deny that she'd gotten stronger, she really wanted to go check out some stores in town and maybe even earn a little money to update her wardrobe.

"Why do you want to go town, Wendy?" Natsu asked, staring off into the horizon from their high position on the mountain. In the west, the sun sank lower in the sky, shading the clouds brilliant reds, oranges, and pinks. Wendy wondered if the fire dragon slayer could somehow feel more of his element in this place, just as she felt so close to the sky that was above her.

"Well, I kind of thought it could be fun to… go shopping," Wendy said hopefully. "Plus, as much as I don't mind bathing in the rivers, I would love a hot shower every now and then."

Natsu nodded, but his eyes were still far away. Wendy looked at him, wondering why he seemed so inclined to avoid towns. She also wondered when they were going to get back to his guild. It had been a couple months already since she joined him, and her elder seemed to think he'd take here there eventually. After a few moments she spoke again.

"Natsu-nii, tell me about your guild…"

"Why do you want to hear about Fairy Tail?" Natsu asked sharply.

"Well, it was your home before," Wendy said, looking down. "I want to know about your home…"

Natsu sighed, a grim expression coming over his usually cheerful face as he looked out over the sunset-bathed land before them. "Wendy, Fairy Tail is still my home. For now, at least. As for what they're like. Well, I guess the best way to say it is that Fairy Tail taught me how much of an idiot I was to think I could have a family that really cared about me."

"W-what do you mean Natsu-nii?" Wendy asked, surprised at the older dragon slayer's answer. "Did something happen to you at Fairy Tail?"

"You could say that. My closest friends, other than Happy here of course, all decided to ditch me for job requests because they didn't want to put up with me."

"Didn't want to put up with you?" This shocked Wendy. How could anyone not like having Natsu around? "Why not?"

Natsu scoffed. "Apparently I was 'too destructive.' I'm a fire dragon slayer, so when I fight, if I have to go all out there's usually a good deal of collateral damage."

"But that's understandable," Wendy said with a frown. Of course his magic would be destructive. He used the power of a fire dragon. How could it not be destructive? "They wanted to leave you behind for that?"

"Yeah," Natsu shrugged. "Apparently they were tired of having to pay part of our reward money toward repairs. I thought we were just having fun together as a team, but obviously I was wrong. So I decided I needed to leave, increase my magic power. That way I can use spells I have more control over and there won't be as much damage from them. And whoever I decide to go on requests with won't have to ditch me for job requests to get their 'full share' of the reward money."

"Well," Wendy smiled at Natsu. "If you take me back to Fairy Tail, I'll go on any job request you want me to. I don't care if you destroy things on the quests."

Natsu returned the warm smile, the cold sadness leaving his face. "Thanks Wendy. You're more like family than anyone since Igneel."

Wendy giggled and moved closer to her surrogate big brother, leaning against his shoulder. "So can we go into the next town we come to?" She asked.

Natsu ruffled her hair with a grin. "If it's that important to you, we'll go into town. It could be fun, right?"

"Aye sir!" Happy cheered coming up from the river.

"Ah Happy," Natsu grinned. "Done fishing already?"

"Yep!" Happy grinned. "I caught 3 fish, and ate all of them!"

"Well, guess you'll be catching your own breakfast tomorrow buddy," Natsu said with a slight smirk.

"Natsu… That's mean!" Happy said.

"Aawww, I like you too," Natsu grinned at him.

The friendly banter continued, Fairy Tail all but forgotten, until the group fell asleep.

 **~~~~~~Fairy Tail~~~~~~**

Gajeel, Gray, Lucy, Mirajane, Juvia, and Elfman arrived at the meeting place only to be greeted by the trimens and Ichiya. After Mira, Lucy, and Juvia were treated to a round of flirting from the trimens, Jura's group arrived from Lamia scale. After discussing the recent events, the three guilds headed out to face their newest threat. The Oracion Seis.

According to Hibiki's information, there was a possibility that the Oracion Seis was collaborating with Grimoire Heart, another very powerful dark guild, to unlock Nirvana. How they planned to do that was a mystery, but the reports that the council received said that a member of Grimoire Heart was the key to finding and unleashing this dangerous weapon.

So, after their discussion, the group all headed out into the forest, where they were stopped by a red-haired man with a scar over his right eye. He was riding on a large, purple snake, and he wore an arrogant smirk.

"Let me handle this jerk," Gajeel smirked, stepping forward.

"Come at me if you think you can take me," the man replied, smirking in response. "Is this ragtag group the best you 'proper' guilds could do?"

"Don't mock me," Gajeel growled, getting into a battle stance. "Iron Dragon's Sword!"

Cobra easily dodged the attack. "I can hear you," he smirked, dodging another blow without apparent difficulty.

 _How the fuck is this guy so fast,_ Gajeel wondered as he leapt forward. _Maybe if I just try a different technique than it looks like I'm gonna use…_ "Iron Dragon's Roar!"

But the red-haired man dodged that easily too. "Dragon slayer, huh? Well try this on for size. Cubelios!"

Suddenly the purple snake lunged forward and her jaws clamped on Gajeel's shoulder. There was a loud clang, and Cubelios' head jerked back as though she were in pain.

"Gee hee," Gajeel smirked. "Guess your lizard can't handle my iron."

"You'll pay for hurting Cubelios!" The other member, who Hibiki identified as Cobra of the Oracion Seis, yelled. "Poison Dragon's Talon!"

He moved too quickly for Gajeel to fully dodge, and he was knocked back into a tree away from the rest of the group. "Poison Dragon's Breath!"

Thinking quickly, Gajeel covered his mouth and nose with iron. Then he leapt clear of the breath attack before inhaling deeply.

"Oy, you're an annoying one, ain't ya." He growled.

Without answering, Cobra charged him with another head on attack, which he barely managed to block, only to be struck in the side with a kick that followed up his initial attack. Well, if it was a fist fight he wanted, there was no one better than Gajeel to give it to him. The dragon slayer started throwing iron-enhanced punches and kicks, only to have each one blocked or dodged, seemingly without effort.

"How the fuck are you doing that?" Gajeel growled, getting frustrated and angry now. "There's no way I didn't land at least one of those!"

"Like I said, I can hear you," Cobra said, his arrogant smirk back on his face as he landed another ferocious kick, knocking Gajeel back several steps.

"Hear me, huh?" Suddenly Gajeel had an idea. "Can you hear this then?"

He quickly started singing in his loudest possible stage voice, raising the volume in level till it was as loud as a dragon's roar.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Cobra screamed, covering his ears and rolling on the ground in pain.

"Gee hee." Gajeel quickly took advantage of the situation. "Iron Dragon's Club!" In a moment Cobra was out, and Gajeel hauled him back to the camp site.

"Well," said Mira. "That's one down."

"He wasn't so tough," Gajeel smirked. "He just relied too much on his _hearing._ "

And so the group went further into the forest.

 **~~~~~~Natsu and Wendy~~~~~~**

They'd been trudging along for a while now, and Natsu was sure they should've arrived at a village by now. But so far there was nothing. In all directions, there was just forest and river.

"We're never gonna' find a village Natsu," Happy said beside him. "You should just stop and ask directions."

"Ask who directions?" Natsu replied in irritation. "There's nothing but wilderness every way you look."

"Hey look, a house!" Wendy called out.

 _You've got to be kidding me. That's the oldest cliché in the book,_ Natsu sighed inwardly. Then he looked up to see that there was indeed an old hut there, in the middle of nowhere. Did that mean they were near a village?

He picked up the pace till he got to the door of the hut, knocking loudly on it. After a few moments it was opened by an elderly gentlemen, even older than councilman Yajima by the look of it. He leaned on a crooked staff, and looked at them curiously. "What brings you young ones out to this area of the woods?"

"I was actually hoping you could help us find the village, is it nearby?" Natsu asked, offering his typical grin.

"Actually you're miles from any village," the old man replied. "Though you're not too far from the sea. In fact, just half a mile that way," he pointed off into the woods, "the trees end and open up into a vast, silent beach."

"So you live out here alone?" Natsu gaped, looking at the old man. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Not really, but I don't quite live alone these days. A little while ago the ocean washed something up on my beach. She was in really bad shape – almost dead in fact, so I had no choice but to take her in and care for her. She's sleeping again, but she awakened for the first time a few days ago."

He then looked them over and said, "Hey, maybe you can help me with her. She doesn't remember anything about her past, but she has the same mark on her as you, young man."

"Mark?" Natsu was confused. "What mark?"

The man tapped his shoulder. "That mark, young 'un. You going blind already?"

"You mean the Fairy Tail guild mark?" Natsu was shocked. "What did she look like?"

"Hmmm…." The man thought for a moment. "Why don't I just show you?"

He motioned for them to follow, and Natsu and Wendy followed him into the house. There were no doors in the house, but a few curtains divided the hut into "rooms." He pulled aside one of those curtains, and Natsu's breath caught in his throat.

Lying on a bed was a woman with long, scarlet hair. Though she was without her usual armor, and even the outfit she sometimes requipped to, Natsu recognized her instantly. She was part of the family that decided to ditch him. The strongest member of Team Natsu. Erza Scarlet.

"Erza!" He gasped involuntarily. He felt rather than saw Wendy give him a quizzical look. "She – she used to be part of my team," he explained, a certain hardness coming to his voice.

"Then you can help her," the man said with a wide smile. "I'm so happy to hear that!"

"I'm sorry old man, but she and the rest of my team treated me like trash. I'm not about to do anything for her," Natsu said, turning and walking from the room.

"But Natsu-nii!" Wendy's voice called out as she chased him down. "He said she doesn't remember anything. Could it really hurt to at least bring her back to the guild?"

Natsu turned to look into Wendy's chocolate eyes, and instantly regretted it. When the young girl asked for something, which she rarely did, he couldn't deny it. Especially when he looked into her disgustingly adorable eyes. They could break his will faster than Erza's fists could break up a fight.

"Wendy…" He tried to think of a good reason not to help Erza in this situation, but he couldn't. He shook his head, his hard expression transforming into a rueful grin. "I guess I'll have to, then."

"Excellent!" The old man grinned. "I really couldn't ask her to stay here any longer. I'm sure she'll be glad to see someone who knows about her!"

"Maybe," Natsu grumbled.

"Hello, is someone there?" Natsu turned back to see Erza sitting up in bed, looking around confusedly.

"Oh, you're awake Erza. Excellent! You're going to go with this young man and this young lady and their two cats."

"Who are they, and why would I go with them?" Erza's tone demanded rather than begged answers. Yep, she hadn't changed a bit.

"The young man knows what the symbol on your shoulder means. He's going to bring you back to a guild who all have that symbol on their shoulders. So you can find out all about the past you forgot."

Natsu didn't bother to correct him about the "on their shoulders" part. He just nodded an affirmation as Erza looked at him questioningly.

"Very well then," she said. "I will go with you. What's your name?"

"Natsu," Natsu replied slowly, the introduction weirding him out a little. "Natsu Dragneel."

"I'm Erza Scarlet," she said offering a hand which he took and shook. She then turned to Wendy. "And you are?"

"W-Wendy Marvell." The girl squeaked. Erza offered Wendy her hand, which the young dragon slayer shook quickly before withdrawing to Natsu's side.

"She seems very close," Erza observed. "Is she your sister?"

"Adopted sister," Natsu answered with a smile. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to talk to the old man."

"I'm Happy!" Happy said beside Natsu.

"And my name is Carla," Carla spoke up from in front of Wendy.

"Talking cats!" Erza exclaimed, then lunged at them.

"Hey geezer," Natsu said, ignoring the scene that was unfolding beside him.

"The name's Daro," the man replied.

"Ok, Daro," Natsu said. "Can you point us to the nearest town?"

"The nearest town is about a 2-day walk, that way." The man pointed off through the forest in a direction roughly perpendicular to the direction of the beach. "If you go fast. If you go a little slower and take time to eat, set up good camps, and stuff, it'll take at least 3 though."

Natsu nodded. "Well, no problem there I don't think," he said with a shrug. "We'll take our time, though. Wendy and I need some training time in the evening." He said. "From there we should be able to find our way back to the guild."

"Wendy, Erza, Happy, Carla. Let's go!" Natsu said.

"It was nice meeting you, Daro-san!" Wendy said, smiling as she followed him out.

"Thanks for everything," Erza said as she also followed them out.

The old man just waved in response, and the group headed out on their way.

 **~~~~~~An Airship, Location Unkown~~~~~~**

Ultear approached Master Hades cautiously, her eyes on the floor.

"Master, are you sure it was a good idea to send Jellal?"

Hades responded with a smirk. "Are you questioning me, Ultear?"

"Of course not," Ultear said, her eyes still on the ground. "But sometimes it's difficult to tell what you're thinking. Jellal is… unstable, as I'm sure you're aware."

"All the more reason to send him," Hades said, surprising her. "If he can't remain in control with his lost magic, I won't teach him to fully master it. I know the danger of allowing someone so powerful to run loose with that magic if he can't control it.".

"So this is a test?" Ultear frowned, not sure she liked this development. "And what happens if he fails?"

Hades smirked at her, moving his hand up to twirl his beard. "Then he will become one of the kin of purgatory. I don't plan to kill him, if that's what you're worried about."

Ultear remained silent, gathering her courage before looking up again. "There's one more thing I don't understand," she said.

"And what's that?" Hades replied.

"How can you be so confident? If Jellal does decide to act on his own, how do you plan to defeat _that._ It's a weapon that is supposed to be beyond what any mage can fathom."

"Well, that's something we don't have to worry about." Hades smirked. "Because Jellal would have to fight that person for control of it. And, certain as I am that he could win the battle, I'm also confident he will be weakened enough from it that even those fairies should have no trouble defeating him."

Ultear looked down. "I see, so you are prepared to give him up to a life in prison?"

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Hades threw his head back, laughing at her. "If he's weak enough to get captured, that's what he deserves. But don't worry about your boyfriend. He's smart enough to run before the council gets to him."

"He's not my boyfriend," Ultear ground out. "But I think it would be a waste to discard him so easily. He has more potential than anyone else in this guild."

"Well, then you have nothing to worry about, my dear." Snickered Hades. "But this conversation is beginning to bore me."

Knowing that she was dismissed, Ultear turned and headed back to her quarters, not even offering an acknowledgement. While she feared and respected Hades, she didn't like him. And she took every opportunity to show him that. Perhaps it was just her own childish way of rebelling against the powerful dark mage.

 **~~~~~~Guild Alliance, Forest~~~~~~**

"Everybody find a way in right now!" Gajeel yelled, racing with the others toward the giant moving city. After Cobra's downfall, the guild had fairly easily taken down the rest of the Oracion Seis. That is, until they encountered Midnight. Their battle with Midnight was not an easy one, and it left Jura so exhausted that he was unable to continue the battle with them.

Now, from the information Hibiki gave them, they had to destroy several lacrimas inside the city in order to stop this weapon. But there was a problem. After Midnight's defeat, Brain, who they thought defeated, had transformed into a different, more powerful entity. And he was certain to be guarding one of the lacrimas.

"Lyon, Mira, Gray, with me." Gajeel yelled. He didn't know how he became the de facto commander of this little group, but for now he would just roll with it. "The rest of you, find the other lacrimas. We're going to find Brain. Or Zero. Or whatever the fuck his name is."

Not waiting for their acknowledgements, Gajeel ran up one of the enormous legs, quickly followed by Gray and Lyon. Mira kept up in the air. It didn't take long before he caught the bastard's scent. But there was another scent there. One that was unfamiliar to Gajeel. But who was it? Was it an enemy or an ally? If he was an ally, where did he come from? And if this was another member of the 'seis,' why hadn't he shown himself before now?

As they drew closer, the sound of battle echoed from further down the hall. Zero's scent and the unfamiliar smell were the only two present, which had to mean they were fighting each other. Did that mean that the new person was an ally?

 **~~~~~~Lacrima Chamber~~~~~~**

"Was this your intention all along?" Zero yelled as he unleashed another powerful attack at his opponent. "Did Hades send you to take this weapon for yourself?"

"Hades sent me to use my discretion," Jellal Fernandez replied as he dodged the yellow-green fire chasing him. "And after seeing your "generals" get defeated by a rag-tag group of mages, I think this weapon doesn't belong in your hands."

"Honestly I couldn't care less what your intentions are right now," Zero said with a smirk. "As long as you can put up a good fight."

"Meteor," Jellal went to his max speed as he flew toward Zero, seeking to land a magic-enhanced punch on his torso. He was surprised when Zero side-stepped as though he were still moving slowly.

"Pathetic," Zero commented, and Jellal didn't have time to dodge fully as the other mage's hand descended on the back of his neck, knocking him to the ground hard. "Is this what it takes to become a Wizard Saint?"

"Bastard," Jellal growled. "I haven't even started yet. ALTAIRIS!"

He watched with a satisfied smirk as the ball of dark energy impacted, knowing it would consume the life of the enemy before him. But when the energy disappeared, there was Zero. Still standing, and barely scratched.

"I'm impressed, that actually hurt," the other mage said, still smirking. "But it's not enough. Sadly, I will just have to destroy you like all the others."

"Damn it…" Jellal cursed. "Well, I guess there's nothing else to do then."

With that he pulled out a dagger with silver markings on it and cut into his wrist. He then put the knife back, turned his palm up, and collected some of the blood in it.

"From the depths of hell I summon thee. Take the price which we agreed… Open, ninth gate of the abyss!"

The blood in his palm suddenly flew from his hand, becoming a magic circle in midair. The circle then turned black, and a large rift appeared in the air between Jellal and Zero. Two hands, each the size of a person's head with fingers ending in razor sharp claws, pulled the rift wider, and a monster stepped through. The monster looked rather like a goat at the bottom, with hooves and legs that were covered with dark red hair. Its tail looked like a scorpions, with a giant stinger on the back. Its torso was hairless, but resembled thick leather. Spikes protruded from its back and shoulders, and its arms were attached to what looked like bat wings. Its face resembled the face of a serpent, with no nose except two small holes above the mouth. It had no horns, but sharp spikes protruded from the back of its head down its neck, and a set of razor-sharp fangs rested against its chin.

"Demon summoning? But you still require your own blood!" Zero said with a smirk. "Which means you haven't yet mastered the magic. Well, this just became more interesting. But we'll see whether your demon can defeat me before your magic power is drained from its summoning."

Without a word, the demon came forward, two blades of hellfire appearing in its hands. Zero leapt backward, barely able to keep up with the creature's speed, which seemed impossibly disproportionate to its size.

"Genesis Zero!" A powerful attack hit the demon, knocking it back several feet and destroying almost the entire room, including the lacrima. But the damage from the attack was minimal. The demon lunged forward, its blades connecting with Zero this time and knocking him through the wall into the next hall. Zero came back up coughing up blood.

"Heh," he smirked as he got to his feet. "Based on your fatigue levels, you have enough magic power to keep that demon here for 10 more seconds…"

-10- The demon charged forward, it's blades cutting the air to create a magic circle in the air. The circle's center turned entirely black while the outsides glowed red.

-9- A beam of darkness laced with red hellfire exploded from the magic circle. Brain used his incredible speed to dodge the attack, only to discover that the magic followed him. The darkness impacted hard, creating a black explosion that filled the whole room and the floor.

-8- Zero plummeted through three floors, finally landing hard on the foundation of the building, his body convulsed a couple times as he tried to struggle back to his feet against the injuries, looking up to see the demon diving toward him.

-7-The demon's blades impacted the floor just as Zero rolled out of the way, grazing his shoulder and sending his body tumbling to the side. The impact created a deep crater in the foundation, at least 15 feet deep and 5 wide.

-6- Zero managed to get to his feet and fire off a dark pulse, but the demon pushed through the attack without taking almost any damage, its blades working to form another magic circle as it moves in for the kill.

-5- A black magic circle appears below Zero, and long black tendrils begin to ooze toward him. Zero tries to escape, but finds himself unable to move his body. Even though he strains every muscle to its maximum capacity, pushing as hard as he can to break the invisible cords holding him in place, he is unable to budge even an inch from his position.

-4- The first tendril reaches his leg, and his flesh begins to rot as it touches him. Seeming to gain momentum as it absorbs his life force, the tendril continues to creep up his leg faster, reaching his knee and leaving putrid, rotted flesh in its wake.

-3- More tendrils latch on, everything moving faster as Zero's life force is drained away from him. Zero tries to scream but even his vocal cords fail to cooperate. Black ooze creeps up to his torso, and his organs begin to rot and disintegrate.

-2- The tendrils reach Brain's chest, and his heart is rotted and disintegrated. What remains of his body is released from the spell, falling to the ground with a look of absolute horror frozen on his face.

-1- The demon disappears, leaving Jellal alone but depleted of most of his magic power. The lacrima has already reformed since the other lacrimas were not destroyed.

Jellal smirked, despite barely being able to stand from magic fatigue. He'd taken Nirvana! Now he could deliver the entire package to Master Hades. Or he could use it for his own and become even more powerful than Hades. That bastard didn't deserve to rule them anyway!

But before he could take action, Gajeel, Mira, Gray, and Lyon rushed into the room. As confident as he was in his power, Jellal knew there was no way he could take all the mages at once, so he did the only thing that was left. "Meteor!" He fled quickly from the scene, annoyed at having to abandon his newly acquired toy but deeming his continued life and freedom more important than Nirvana.

After he was far enough away he stopped, turning to watch as the walking city crumbled to the ground, its terrible legacy stopped by the rag-tag group that should never have come that far.

His last thought before finding a safe place to curl up and sleep was _'Lord Hades will not be pleased.'_

 **~~~~~~Later, at Fairy Tail~~~~~~**

"Alright everyone, we successfully defeated the Oracion Seis. Now let's party!"

Instantly the guild burst into party mode, but before Gajeel could jump into the brawl Makarov came up to him.

"I need you and Mira in my office right now." He said quietly. "Certain details of your report are… very disturbing."

Gajeel just nodded and went over to Mira, who was relaxing by the bar. Laki was currently tending the bar in her place. He relayed Makarov's message to her, and she nodded and got up. Together, they headed into the office to find out what was on Makarov's mind.

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So there it is. Read. Follow. Favorite. Drop a review. ^_^


	6. Chapter 6

**I don't own Fairy Tail or the characters. It all belongs to Mashima**

I'm working on finishing Fiery Jade still, and I've been letting "The Size of His Heart" sit for too long, so I'm going to try to finish those up this week. I also want to try to update "24 Hours" soon.

Once "Fiery Jade" is finished I'll post the first chapter of my next fic, which will be determined by the results of the polls. So far, it looks like NatsuxWendyxChelia is winning. I have started all four of the stories in the polls, but I'll focus on finishing the one with the most votes first.

But anyway, here's Lost. Enjoy! Read! Review!**

* * *

"Hey Gajeel!"

Gajeel looked up at the sound of Gray's voice, his eye twitching. What could the ice pervert want this early in the morning? Didn't he know it was too early to be yelling people's names like the world was about to end?

"Whaddya' want?" He growled, not caring that his voice came out at a slightly higher, more grating pitch than usual. The stripper needed to know he wasn't happy about this.

"I have something I think you might want to investigate," Gray said, a small smirk on his face.

"Yeah? What's that?"

"I've got rumors of a dragon sighting. Supposedly a _metal_ dragon."

Gajeel felt the hair on his neck rise as he turned his full attention to the ice mage. Did Gray really think he was stupid enough to believe Metalicana would really show himself suddenly after all these years? What was the ice pervert playing at?

"Who's seen this… 'dragon,'" Gajeel asked, wanting to make sure the ice mage knew that he didn't believe for a second that a real dragon was running around.

"It's a girl named Daphne," Gray said, the smirk never leaving his face. "And before you ask, yeah, I know it's not real. Let me explain why I think you might want to come."

Gajeel hated to admit to himself that he was now curious to hear what the ice mage had to say. If the dragon wasn't real, why would Gray think he would be interested in pursuing the rumor? Perhaps there was more going on here than met the eye. Certainly if the glimmer in Gray's eyes meant anything, this could provide some entertainment if nothing else.

"Go on," was all he said.

"Well, I already investigated her rumor, and found that she's building this giant metal dragon that she believes rivals the power of a real dragon. I thought maybe you would like to come along and expose her rumors and maybe show her how weak her 'dragon' really is," Gray smirked.

Hmmm… Go make fun of a crazy girl who thought she could make dragons? That did sound like it could be fun. It sounded like this girl needed to be taught a lesson, and besides, it wasn't like he had anything better going on. "Alright, I'll bite."

"I want to come too!" Levy said, and Gajeel flinched. There was no way that Daphne could build anything that rivaled the power of a real dragon, but that didn't mean this wouldn't be dangerous. Then again, the blue-haired mage had seen her fair share of battle, so maybe she could hold her own if it came to that.

"Alright," he said gruffly. "Just don't get in the way."

 **~~~~~~At Daphne's~~~~~~**

It quickly became evident that the rumors Daphne spread were false, just as Gray said. But when Gajeel tried to leave the meeting place, he discovered something really out of the ordinary. He couldn't leave! Apparently this Daphne girl had the ability to trap them in this space.

His first instinct when this happened was that he needed to get Levy out. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to lay a beating on the freak girl, but she probably had something sinister planned if she trapped them. There was no way he was letting Levy get caught up in that! After all, she did stick up for him against Jet and Droy, though he'd been willing to let the two go a lot farther in their revenge. And if he was honest, it wasn't like she was the worst looking girl in the world, in fact, from some angles she was actually pretty cute.

But that's when Gray showed his true colors. Daphne needed a dragon slayer to power her mechanical dragon. Apparently, Gray decided that should be him. At first he didn't want to believe it. This was Fairy Tail. There was no way a wizard of Fairy Tail would so willingly betray a comrade. Everything he knew and observed about the fairies testified to their loyalty to their guild and their guild mates.

So instead of fighting Gray, Gajeel opted to try and find a way out. He headed down the stairs, toward the next level. Only to find Gray there ahead of him, and the ice mage's eyes made it clear that he intended to fight with his full strength. That left Gajeel no option but to fight back.

"Ice make, hammer!" Gray's hammer descended on him, giving him little time to react. But he had just long enough.

"Iron Dragon's Club!" He transformed his arm into a spiked club, shattering the ice hammer before it could hit him. Even as the shards scattered the ice mage was beginning his next attack, but Gajeel wasn't about to wait for him to hit. He was a dragon slayer, and he'd spent years training his strength and speed so that he could never be outmatched in battle.

"Iron Dragon's Sword!" He charged in, his quick sweep disrupting Gray's spell before he could complete it as the ice mage was forced to dodge. Another slice downward kept him on the defensive, not giving him time to react fast enough. But he had to remember that Gray wasn't considered a candidate for S class this year for nothing. The ice mages hands resumed their movements even while he was dodging the dragon slayer's blade.

"Ice make floor!" Suddenly the charging dragon slayer had no traction beneath his feet. The force of his charge threatened to carry him into the wall, but the ice mage forgot who he was messing with. A simple ice floor wasn't enough to end Gajeel. He was the iron dragon slayer! The son of Metalicana! He wouldn't be brought down so easily!

He forced iron spikes to form on the bottom of his feet, jutting through his shoes and into the hard ice floor. At the same time he counterbalanced his body, leaning back hard so that the sudden change in his momentum wouldn't cause him to face plant. But he didn't have time to waste recovering. The ice pervert would be starting another attack already. The scent of the ice mage and the quietly spoken beginning of an ice make spell allowed him to locate his opponent as he spun, starting his own attack at the same instant that he began to turn.

"Iron Dragon's Roar!" His roar shattered the ice cannon Gray shot at him, pushing through toward the ice mage. Gajeel smirked when he saw Gray's eyes widen, the stripper attempting to dodge the attack but realizing that the ice floor he created worked against him too. The attack hit him, hurling him back into the wall.

Pressing his advantage, Gajeel charged forward, summoning forth his iron dragon's sword. Gray was getting to his feet, already starting a defensive spell, when Daphne's voice cut into him. "Stop if you want her to live!"

Gajeel felt his chest tighten as he ground to a halt barely 2 feet from the ice stripper. He turned, afraid of what he was going to see when Daphne came into view. When he saw her, his fears were confirmed. There she was. Just far enough away that he couldn't reach her in less than 2 or 3 seconds. One hand had a firm grip on Levy's hair, pulling her head back and exposing her beautiful neck. The other hand held a dirk across that neck, positioned to sever her jugular faster than the dragon slayer could get to her.

"Alright. You got me." He growled, dropping his hands. Each second he fought his body's impulse to rush forward and strangle the girl. His mind played out the beating he would deliver to her a thousand times as he watched her hand, unwavering as it held the dagger to Levy's neck. "I'll do what you want. Just let her go."

"Oh, that's not a problem," Daphne smirked. "I have no need for her anyway, and once you're powering my machine, it won't make a difference for her where she is." The girl paused, and then said. "Gray! You're up!"

"Ice make battering ram!" Though he barely felt the impact through his iron skin, the force of the blow sent him sliding hard across the floor. What was the purpose of the attack though? Was it just revenge for hitting the ice pervert into the wall? Or was there something more sinister?

Just then the floor opened up and Gajeel felt himself falling into a dark, sinister space. For some reason he felt his heartbeat quicken, his hackles raising from the darkness he now found himself in. Something about this chamber was off. Was this what she meant when she said he would power her machine?

These were his last thoughts before he drifted off into unconsciousness.

 **~~~~~~A small town in the northwestern wilderness~~~~~~**

"How much longer until we reach this 'Fairy Tail?'" Erza asked.

Natsu suppressed the urge to sigh. This was at least the 5th time that the red-headed mage asked that question in the last couple hours alone. She'd been socially awkward before, but this was ridiculous. It was like the amnesia didn't just affect her memory but pushed her back to a mental childhood. The Erza he knew would've been appalled at her current behavior.

"Don't you have anything better to do than ask that question?" He asked, not even bothering to turn his head in her direction.

"Well, it's not like you're a great conversationalist," Erza replied. "Every time I try to ask you anything about this guild or our past, you shrug it off and walk away."

There it was again. Why did she have to ask so many questions about Fairy Tail? He didn't really mind talking about almost anything else in earthland, but she just wouldn't stay away from the topic of Fairy Tail. Why couldn't she understand that he just didn't want to go there? Why should he have to explain everything to her? Of all the things he was eager to do at the moment, discussing the guild with the woman who belonged to the team that abandoned him was on the bottom of the list.

"And you're quiet again," Erza huffed behind him.

"Please don't mind Natsu-nii," He heard Wendy say calmly. "He has his reasons for not talking about the guild to you, Erza-san."

"If he's really part of the same guild as me, why should he care if we talk about it?" Erza demanded, reminding Natsu again that though her memory might be gone, her personality hadn't changed.

But her incessant nagging was starting to make his head hurt. Every time she asked how the guild was… Every time she inquired into his friends at the guild… Whenever she would wonder how she got along with people there… He could only remember his team.

 _Don't you think Natsu's been kind of a nuisance lately?..._ The scene replayed itself in his mind, from his friends complaining about his destructive tendencies to their decision to exclude him from his team. Team Natsu. He couldn't help but laugh at the irony of it. His name was well known enough around Fiore that people just started calling the team by that name, and yet they were more than willing to just leave him out. Abandon him because he was too much of a nuisance.

But despite the small voice that told him to just tell her off – to tell her she and his other 'best' friends were the whole reason he left on this journey – his heart wouldn't allow him to hurt someone in the guild like that. Besides, it would just make the trip more awkward. He could just imagine how it would go. Either they would walk in complete silence the entire way, awkwardly feeling each others' distant auras, or Erza would be asking him to strike her every 5 minutes. Neither scenario appealed to him, so he just left well enough alone.

"There's a small restaurant here," he announced to Wendy and Erza. "After we eat we can get a carriage. With luck, we'll be within a day's journey of a town with a train station."

Soon they were in the restaurant and all ordered their food. It was a good thing he'd insisted that he and Wendy do jobs every time they passed a major town in their travels. Now they had enough jewels to cover their dinner easily, and Natsu could order all the food he wanted. He did just that, ordering several cuts of meat for himself and all kinds of fish for Happy.

Now Erza was talking again, but he focused on the delicious steak instead of trying to pick out the words she was saying.

 **~~~~~~Magnolia~~~~~~**

"Come on Gajeel, you can fight it!"

Gajeel roared in agony as he awakened, feeling as though he were a lemon that somebody was trying to squeeze the juice out of. Every inch of his body felt an unbearable pressure. His head was pounding, and every time he tried to use magic the pressure just got worse.

 _I must be in that crazy bitch's dragon_. As he attuned his senses to the dragon, he could feel the thudding of its footsteps on the streets of Magnolia. Then his breath caught as he heard the voices of his guild mates. His former guild members were out there trying to fight this dragon, and from what he saw and heard they were unsuccessful so far.

Even Mira's Halphas attacks just glanced off the beast. Gray's ice magic did nothing to slow the onslaught. Though he was aware of everything that was happening, Gajeel found himself able only to watch as though from a distance as a beam shot from the dragon, destroying a large section of the town.

Everyone was out there. From the master all the way down to the weakest mage. Gajeel shook with anger as he watched them, unable to defend against the attack. Doing their best just to hold on to their lives. This was his family. He wasn't going to be the power that would enable this thing to destroy them! He refused!

But try as he might, he couldn't break free of the magic extraction chamber. It was as though anti-magic ropes bound every inch of his being, pulling him down into that sensation that pressed all the harder the more he defied it. It was as though his entire body was on fire.

Then he saw her. Levy, out there with the rest of them. And the creature was turning its head toward her, ready to launch an attack on her. Desperation surged through the iron dragon slayer as he looked at the girl. He knew what he had to do. There was no other way.

"Magic: Full Releas!" He whispered as he poured all his magic power into the machine. He pushed everything he had, and then did the one thing you were never supposed to do. He pushed more. Now the fire that seemed to light up his being spread to his insides, wrenching and twisting them mercilessly. He roared out in pain, but refused to give up. He wouldn't stop until…

Suddenly there was an explosion, and he knew his job was done. The giant dragon fell to the ground as the magic container was overloaded and utterly destroyed, leaving no hope of the dragon rising again. Gajeel smirked a little as he fell also, his eyes threatening to close.

"Gray, you bastard," he choked out in strangled gasps. "Guess I won't be the one to kill you…"

The last thing he saw was Levy's slight form running toward him, her eyes brimming with tears as she took in his plight. "Gajeel!" She was yelling, as though her voice would somehow restore his broken body and hold his life in it.

"Sorry shrimp," he muttered as he felt his body become cold. Then the world faded completely away…

 **~~~~~~Levy~~~~~~**

"Gajeel!" She yelled again as she reached the dragon slayer. She heard the words, deep and raspy as they strained from his throat, cutting into her like a knife.

"Sorry shrimp…"

And she was on him, gathering his limp form into her arms. He was surprisingly light for an iron dragon slayer. She would've expected him to weigh a ton. His skin felt hard, like iron, but his weight was no more than your average man.

But as he lay in her arms, the hardness left his skin. It became soft and pliable, like any human, and his body became absolutely limp. There was no rise or fall of his chest. When she put her ear to his mouth she couldn't hear nothing. Not even the faintest hint of respiration.

By the time the others got there she'd checked his pulse twice. But she checked it again anyway. She needed a sign. Any sign that he might still be alive. But no matter what she tried, no matter where she looked, there was nothing. Only a cold, hard certainty that this wasn't a dream. Gajeel was never coming back to them. Never coming back to her.

Her mind focused on what she'd heard as she first started running up… _Gray you bastard… Guess I won't be the one to kill you…_ The tone was accusatory, spoken half with Gajeel's smart-ass humor and half with a menacing seriousness. Her fingers clenched tightly at her sides as she remembered the ice mage's betrayal in the hut. Her body seemed to act on its own, her feet pushing her up off the ground and away from the dragon slayer of their own volition.

"You," she seethed, aware on some level that her hand was moving to slap the ice mage hard across the face. "You betrayed him. This is all your fault." She slapped him again, harder. If only she could slap him hard enough to knock the life right out of him. She couldn't even stand to look at him right now. His face was the face of a friend. Of a brother she grew up with and trusted. His eyes betrayed remorse. But remorse wouldn't bring Gajeel back. Remorse wouldn't heal her. If only she could see him truly suffer for it. Suffer the kind of pain that Gajeel must've suffered in his last moments.

Hot tears stung her cheeks as people gathered around, questioning Gray about what she meant. And she fled from the scene, not wanting to hear his excuses. She didn't care what the decision was. Even if he was kicked out of the guild, that wasn't enough for her. She couldn't even look at him right now. She just ran as fast as she could, and she didn't stop till she reached her dorm in Fairy Hills.

 **~~~~~~The next day, in a town northwest of Magnolia~~~~~~**

Natsu's legs wavered under him as he jumped off wagon, and he fell to his knees. But he took the opportunity to kiss the ground repeatedly.

"Ground, sweet ground!" He exulted, not minding the taste of dust on his lips from his profuse adoration of the solid earth.

"So Natsu, which way to the train station?" Erza asked as she dismounted the wagon behind him.

Natsu felt himself deflate like a balloon, his suddenly returned strength leaving his body as he drifted to the ground. "T-train?" He sobbed. "Why must we get on that death trap?!"

"You're weird…." Erza told him.

"Aye sir!" Happy cheered.

"You're supposed to be on my side," Natsu cried.

"Aye sir," Happy said cheerfully.

Natsu just face-palmed as he slowly forced his feet under him. "We should at least eat before getting to the train station…" He groaned.

"Sounds like a plan," Erza said. "So let's find a restaurant."

Natsu turned to do just that, but was surprised to find a tall man dressed in dark clothing, his face almost entirely covered by cloth, standing behind him. He carried 5 staffs on his back, all of them sticking up above his broad shoulders and head.

"Mystogan!" He exclaimed, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Natsu, there isn't much time to explain. But I need you and Wendy to come to Edolas with me."

"Wait…" Natsu said. "You know Wendy?"

"I…" Mystogan looked at Wendy, then at Erza. He took a step back.

"Are you a part of the guild that Natsu told me I was in?" Erza asked, her tone demanding.

Mystogan looked back at Natsu, confusion in his eyes. "I found Erza in an old man's hut not far from the sea. Apparently he stumbled across her and helped her regain her health, but she lost all her memories in the process."

"Ah…" Mystogan said. Then he turned to Wendy. "Then I suppose it's safe for me to do this." He pulled off his cloths, revealing a red tattooed face and blue hair.

"J-Jellal?!" Wendy stuttered, sounding confused. She then ran to him, wrapping her arms around him to envelop him in a hug.

"Wendy," Mystogan said smiling. "It's good to see you again, and you couldn't have found a better partner," he added, looking toward Natsu. Wendy smiled too.

"There's not much time to explain," Mystogan continued. "But the essence of it is that I come from another world called Edolas. And you guys are needed there."

"Why?" Natsu asked, sighing. "I'm trying to bring Erza back to Fairy Tail so I can continue my journey to find Igneel and become stronger than Gildarts."

"Because right now there isn't a Fairy Tail to bring Erza to," Mystogan replied. "They're currently in a giant lacrima in my world, where my king plans to turn them into magic power."

Natsu recoiled in surprise. The entire guild in another world just waiting to be turned into magic power? There may be people he didn't much like in the guild, but he couldn't let them just become some source of magic power for some power-hungry king. "Alright, take us there!" He said.

"Just a moment," Mystogan said, pulling out some small, round things that looked like pills. "You'll need to take these or you won't be able to use magic in Edolas. Eat it as soon as we arrive there."

"Ok," Natsu said with a shrug, taking the pill. Mystogan also handed one to Wendy and prepared to depart.

"What about me?" Erza asked. "If I'm part of the guild, I should go too!"

"You can't even remember how to use your magic," Natus said quietly. "You need to stay here." He pulled out enough money for her to stay in the local inn and eat for two weeks. "Take this. If we're gone longer than 2 weeks, there's a good chance we're not coming back."

"Alright Wendy, let's go." He said, backing up with Wendy. "You too Happy, Carla."

Moments later the dragon slayers and exceeds found themselves in a strange world.

* * *

Just a couple words about the events here. Erza and Gajeel won't be needed in Edolas because Natsu and Wendy are both substantially stronger at this point than in canon. Not OP, but much stronger than canon.

Oh, and as far as Gajeel's death... Sorry, but it's the only way I could bring myself to ship Levy with Natsu (outside of a crack-ship situation). And no, before people start asking, he's not coming back.

Anyway, read and review plz :D


	7. Chapter 7

**I don't own Fairy Tail or the characters. Mashima does. Yada yada. Disclaimer stuff. I make no money for this fanfic.

So, here's chapter 7 of "Lost..." For all of you hoping to see some NaLe moments, that won't be happening at least until the Edolas Arc is over for obvious reasons. The arc won't be as long as canon, but I don't want to make it too short either. So anyway, I'll write what comes out and eventually they'll reach the end.

Probably update Dragon Slayers of Fairy Tail next if anyone cares...**

* * *

Lucy Ashley grunted as she returned to her place near the head of the guild. It was another uneventful, completely uninteresting day. She supposed that she should be glad of that. After all, any day without a sign of that fairy hunter was a good day.

But still, what was a day without a little excitement anyway?

*Crash* The doors to the guild flew open. She instantly jumped on guard, wondering how the fairy hunter managed to slip through their guard. They'd been so careful to have their defenses in place! As her eyes swept up to the figure emerging through the doors, she instantly recognized him. He was dressed differently, with black pants and a dragon-printed black and red vest, but the spiky pink hair gave him away immediately. It was Natsu Dragion.

But something seemed different about the timid mage today. For one, he was out of his vehicle and acting with confidence that bordered on cockiness. For another, he was accompanied by a young girl with blue hair and two exceeds.

Exceeds?! What were they doing there? Did Natsu Dragion betray them? Was that why he had a sudden confidence?

No. Impossible. She would need to confront this situation directly.

"Natsu! What are you doing with those exceeds? And who is that young girl?!"

"Chill, Lucy," The tone was very different from Dragion's. Firmer, with none of the quaver that her Natsu's voice usually held. "I'm not the Natsu you know. Me and Wendy are from another world."

"Wendy?" Exclamations rose up all over the guild, and even Lucy's jaw dropped as she looked at the flat-chested girl next to Natsu. Her Wendy just looked at her for a moment before looking away again, while the girl next to Natsu stared at her counterpart, her hands moving unconsciously to her chest.

"Whether you're from another world or not, you still brought exceeds with you," Lucy said, setting her voice in a hard tone. "How did you know where to find us?"

"Well, we found out from Mystogan."

"Mystogan? Who the fuck is that?" Lucy glared suspiciously at them.

*Sigh* "Wendy, why don't you tell them."

"Umm… Ok Natsu-san…" And Wendy began…

 **~~~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~~~**

"Alright Wendy, I don't know when and if I'll see you and Natsu again before this is over, so I wanted to tell you a couple things. First, and most important – I have a counterpart in your world. His name is Jellal, just like my real name is. But he is very different from me. If you ever meet him, do not mistake him for the same kind of person that I am, got it?"

Wendy nodded her head, wrapping her childhood friend in another hug. "But why didn't you ever come see me?"

"I had a lot to do, keeping the anima from destroying Earthland." Mystogan answered. "Even Natsu never saw my face before today, and he's been in my guild for years."

"I don't have much time." Mystogan spoke louder as he turned back toward Natsu. "The two of you should go to Fairy Tail and see if you can enlist their aid."

"I thought Fairy Tail was a giant lacrima," Natsu said, scratching his head.

"There's a Fairy Tail in this world too. Perhaps the last remaining wizard guild in all Edolas," Mystogan said. Then, looking pointedly at Natsu, he added, "And just a warning – if you happen to run into Erza here… she's not a friend. Don't show her mercy, because she sure as hell won't show you any."

"An evil Erza? Sounds great! I can pummel her without having to feel guilty about beating my friends up."

Wendy couldn't help laughing at Natsu's perpetual optimism. But she needed more information if they were going to find this world's Fairy Tail and ask them for help.

"Jellal-san… I mean, Mystogan, where is Fairy Tail?"

"Oh yes. Right now it's that way, about a 10 hour walk if you hurry," Mystogan pointed toward what looked to be the southeast, at least based on the position of Edolas's sun. "You should hurry, though. The guild may move again at any time."

"Oh, ok…"

"And one more thing, you probably shouldn't mention my name to Fairy Tail there…"

 **~~~~~~END FLASHBACK~~~~~~**

Wendy stopped, mortified that she had only remembered this crucial instruction after telling the whole story. Even worse, it felt like every eye in the guild was wide and looking directly at her. She took refuge from their stares behind Natsu, deciding that it would be easier to let him deal with it.

"Prince Jellal?!" Shocked voices rose up from all around them. "Wasn't he banished? How do you know him anyway? The prince was in another world?"

"Look, we don't know any more about that part than you do," Natsu interrupted, glaring around at them. "But what we do know is that ya'll's king has our guild in some sort of giant lacrima and he plans to use them up as magic power for this world. We're here to stop him. Simple as that."

"Simple?" Lucy's voice was harsh as she repeated the word back to him, and Wendy cringed from the sound. "You call that simple? That lacrima is guarded by the royal army, and in case you haven't noticed magic guilds aren't exactly welcome in this world! Your plan is to just charge in and _stop_ the king?"

"Umm, yeah."

"And furthermore, you still haven't explained why you have exceeds with you," she growled, pointing to Happy and Carla.

"Exceeds?" Natsu scratched his head.

"Don't play dumb," Lucy glared at him. "They're right there behind you. It's obvious."

"You mean Carla and Happy?" Natsu blinked. "They're just flying cats that hatched from eggs we found a long time ago in Earthland, right Happy?"

"Aye sir!" Happy grinned, pumping his fist in the air. Wendy looked toward Carla, and was surprised to see the white exceed looking at the ground. Was something wrong with her friend?

Words continued to be spoken around her, but she let them drift gently over her stream of consciousness. Her focus was on the reactions of Happy and Carla to the announcement that they were exceeds. It was more than obvious that Happy had no clue who or what he was outside of someone Natsu found as an egg and raised. Carla, on the other hand, seemed to have some further idea. The way she looked at the ground when Natsu asked the question – even to Happy. And even now, she was looking at the blue cat – no, exceed – with a dissatisfied expression. It was almost as though she expected him to know something that he didn't. To realize something he didn't.

But if Carla already knew who she was and where she came from, why didn't she ever speak of it? Wendy thought back, trying to remember a single instance where Carla had mentioned anything about where she came from. Even the word _exceed_. She hadn't. She was sure of it. And whatever their heritage, she seemed ashamed of it now.

That was, perhaps the most disconcerting of all this. After all, if their heritage were as innocent as it seemed, there would be nothing for Carla to be ashamed about. There must be something wrong. Something she didn't want the dragon slayers to know about her and Happy.

And what was their plan anyway? She couldn't deny that she'd gotten a whole lot stronger since she started training with Natsu, but she wasn't confident enough to take on an entire army with just the two of them yet. Especially when they had no way of knowing who was on the other side. Apparently, they couldn't fully count on Carla and Happy. At least, Carla's reaction and the guild's reaction to the exceeds seemed to imply that.

Just then the door burst open. "We need to jump! The Fairy Hunter is coming!" A teen who looked exactly like Natsu came running into the guild. When Lucy saw him, she instantly grabbed him and put him in a headlock. "That's what you get for being late." She said. Then she yelled, "Levy, can we make the jump yet?!"

"I'm working on it," The blue-haired girl called back. "We're almost ready."

"Fairy hunter eh?" Natsu grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Sounds like a fun fight."

"You can't fight her! She's the most powerful of the king's knights. And she's feared for a reason!" Lucy was screaming at Natsu, but Wendy could also see a hint of fear in her eyes. "Erza's hunted down every guild in Edolas. We're the only ones that have even survived this long."

Wendy felt her breathing catch when the name Erza was mentioned. She slowly turned toward the older dragon slayer beside her, trembling at what she might find when her eyes reached his face. She sighed softly when they finally got there. His lips were drawn together in a hard line, curved up slightly into an almost feral grin. His eyes glimmered with barely contained excitement, and his hands clenched at his side.

"Erza huh?" She could hear the slight tremble in his voice. "So Erza's an enemy in this world?"

Lucy nodded, her posture relaxing slightly. Apparently she misinterpreted the slight tremble in Natsu's voice for fear. "She's our worst nightmare. She and her squad are unstoppable. She earned the nickname 'Fairy Hunter,' and many times we barely escaped her in time."

Without a word, Natsu turned and started heading for the guild doors. Lucy grabbed his arm. "Where are you going?!" She yelled at him. "Didn't you hear what I just said?!"

"This is just perfect!' Natsu said, shrugging her off. "I've always wanted a chance to fight Erza without holding back."

Lucy looked at him as though he were crazy, then turned to Wendy. "Can't you convince him not to do this?" She asked, and the younger dragon slayer could hear the faint pleading in her tones.

"Once Natsu-nii sets his mind to something there is no convincing him," Wendy said with a soft sigh. She couldn't tell Lucy that this was even worse because this particular person was strongly connected to strong negative emotions right now. It had been hard enough to get Natsu to tell her what little she knew of the whole ordeal. If she shared those details with someone else now, who knew whether he would ever open up to her more about that? Or anything else for that matter. She couldn't risk having him closed off to her.

Nor could she leave him to fight this Edolas version of Erza alone. With a determined step, she followed the older dragon slayer out of the guild hall, where he stood and watched the horizon expectantly.

"We're not going to make it in time!" One of the perks of being a dragon slayer was hearing conversations you weren't supposed to hear. The words inside the guild came from the short, blue-haired girl they called Levy. Perhaps the Fairy Tail in her world had a Levy as well. She didn't know yet, and wasn't likely to soon, since Natsu-nii clearly had no intention of returning yet.

Not that he wouldn't take her there and let her stay in the guild. He'd offered to do that several times. But she didn't care to go to a guild that he wasn't going to be around in. Especially a guild where the people he treasured most treated him like a nuisance. No, she wouldn't be going back to the guild until Natsu-nii was ready.

But Levy's statement was issued in short, anxious tones. They were clearly spoken only to those in closest proximity to her, but they also indicated that if Natsu was unable to at least delay this world's Erza, the Fairy Tail guild here would be taken and they would lose their last chance of help in this world.

A male voice started to answer Levy, but before she could focus on the words her attention was drawn to something else. Something was approaching their position at great speed, from the sky no less! It was a winged mount, looking in some ways like a miniature dragon, and mounted on top of it was the exact image of the Erza she had met and traveled with over the last few days. This Erza was grim faced and dark eyed, and carried with her a large sword. She was traveling with a small group, perhaps a squad, of ordinary knights. She dropped down on the mount toward Natsu, as though she meant to have the creature itself move him out of the way.

If so, it was a foolish move on her part, for Natsu's techniques and power were more than a match for the winged steed. With a simple roar he knocked the steed from the sky, forcing the red-haired woman to dismount. She executed the dismount gracefully, doing a single forward flip toward them to hit the ground in a crouch only 10 feet away. Behind her, the knights brought their mounts to the ground, probably having no desire to lose their way of returning to the castle.

"Dragion. You were the last person I expected to try to stand in my way," Erza declared as she strode forward, her eyes set and determined. "Stop this foolishness now and I will try to persuade the king to be lenient with you."

"You must have me confused with someone else," Natsu said, a small smirk coming to his face. Wendy quietly whispered some speed and endurance enchantment spells as he spoke. "My name's Natsu Dragneel, and to be honest I'm really looking forward to beating the shit out of you."

Erza motioned with her right hand, and two guards rushed Natsu. He ignited his fist, dodged their attempted strikes, and hit the first with a devastating blow to the chest that knocked him back 30 feet, unconscious, and connected with the second to the side of the head, knocking him 10 feet to the side before he also lost consciousness.

"You see," Natsu said as though nothing had happened, "you happen to look just like somebody who pissed me off recently. But no matter how hard I try I can't bring myself to go all out against her. Fortunately, I have no such hesitation when it comes to you. So that means I'm going to kick your ginger ass till you know never to mess with Fairy Tail again – pathetic army and all."

"I can see you're not Dragion," Erza said, her weapon now at the ready. "I may have to take you seriously." She then directed her gaze toward Wendy. "Little girl, I request that you stand down. I have no interest in harming children, but I won't hesitate if you stand in my way."

"Natsu is right," Wendy said, drawing herself up next to the fire dragon slayer. "You shouldn't underestimate Fairy Tail. I have no intention of backing down, as I can see now that the two of us are more than a match for you."

Erza's eyes hardened before she charged in. "As you wish," was all she said.

Then she charged, her speed fast enough to match Wendy's enhanced agility. Her sword came in toward Natsu at a downward angle, as though she meant to slice through his shoulder across to his waste at the bottom. Natsu blocked the strike with a part of his arm that was now covered in scales, and Wendy gasped in surprise. It wasn't that she didn't think highly of him of course! Natsu was the greatest dragon slayer in all Earthland! But still, how had he mastered the dragon force to such an extent already? According to the little Grandeeney revealed about it, to be able to use the dragon slayer magic to protect only one part of the body with the dragon force scales required an immense amount of control of the power.

But then, in the short time that she'd known him, Natsu always showed a natural talent for anything regarding fighting and the using of his magic. She'd seen him efficiently take out large groups of dark mages, his mind analyzing their magic and attack patterns subconsciously faster than her mind could figure them out. Had it not been for their sweeping of the dark guilds in those regions, she might never have even seen him fight. But they needed jewels, just like everyone else, so they would acquire them by raiding dark guilds and turning their leaders in. Typically the leaders, if not the entire guilds, would have bounties of some sort. And even if they didn't, nobody would notice or care if the dark guild's treasury was empty.

So really it shouldn't have surprised her that Natsu had already mastered the dragon force and applying it to the specific part of his body that he wanted to protect, but she still couldn't help being a little surprised.

"Wendy! You take out the trash. I'll take care of this ginger bitch," Natsu yelled.

"You'll pay for that!" Erza charged him again, but Wendy didn't take the time to watch the outcome now. Natsu gave her a task, and she intended to show him she could do it. This would be easy! Just 6 guards left after Natsu took out the first two, and they all used swords!

"Sky Dragon's Talon" Wendy whispered the words as she flew at the first two, knocking them easily out with one hit.

"Sky Dragon's Wing Attack." Her next strike easily broke through the other guards' attacks, knocking them back several paces.

"Sky Dragon's Dance!" This was a move she'd mostly created herself, involving variants of the talon, wing attacks, and other sky dragon spells. Her body moved in a rhythm discernable only to her, both feet coming off the ground and kicking out with devastating talon attacks as she did a perfect 360 in the air. As she came back down, her wings struck out with razor-sharp gusts while she flipped forward, using the momentum to bring her feet down in a final, ultimate double talon attack on the last opponent.

She was surprised when the last attack was partially deflected. Till then, the guards that Edolas's Erza brought along had been fairly helpless against her attacks. But apparently the Fairy Hunter brought more than just weaklings. The man that she faced now was nearly six feet tall, giving him an easy height and reach advantage over her. He was holding what appeared to be a sword, but she could sense magic in it. How did magic work in this world anyway? She never got the chance to ask Jellal about that. Next time she saw him she'd have to berate him for not telling her, and of course ask him why he warned her to stay away from Earthland's Jellal. That was curious too.

She felt rather than saw a rush of liquid, and rolled to the side quickly. Her opponent was just pulling his sword back from its downswing, and as the rock melted away before the liquid Wendy quickly realized that her momentary distraction had nearly cost her more than she could afford to give. Normally she could've counted on Natsu-nii to save her, but he was involved in his fight with Edolas's Erza.

The man swung again, his sword coming in a diagonal arc this time. She jumped over the line of what she now knew was acid as it spread toward her, whispering a speed enchantment to get her close. Once she was within range, she struck out quickly with a simple claw attack, connecting with her opponent's stomach. She then ducked under the blade that he slashed across even as he fell back. She felt the edge nick her shoulder, and was thankful that he didn't have the magic activated on this strike.

She fell back a little way, putting everything she had into her next strike. "Sky Dragon's Roar!" The attack connected, slicing through his acid strike and ripping into him in a conic whirlwind of devastation. She gazed at the results in front of her, panting heavily. She knew she'd grown stronger, but damn! The ground was torn up for over a hundred feet, shrubs, rocks, and trees alike torn apart by the blasts of wind. The man lay in the middle of the cone of destruction, his arms twitching, but other than that unmoving.

Suddenly a wave of intense heat washed over her, enveloping her in a protective warmth. She turned toward the source to see Natsu, still facing off against Erza, wreathed in flames that were shooting at least 15 feet into the air. He was in a position she'd never seen him take before when fighting, and judging from the shocked expression on Erza's face, the flames felt a little different on that side of the battlefield.

"Fire Dragon's Crushing Embrace." Moving so quickly that she could barely track his movements, Natsu brought his arms out to the side and then pulled them together almost as though he were hugging somebody. Great wings of fire mimicked his movements, wrapping Erza in an orange-yellow embrace. The red-headed knight struggled, attempting to use her spear-sword to break free from the flames. But her efforts proved fruitless. Slowly the flaming wings grew closer together, tightening their hold on her, until finally she disappeared into the midst of them. Then there was an enormous explosion, flames shooting out and licking all the way up to Wendy's feet, brushing at her dress and hair. When the flames cleared, Erza was laying back on the ground, her sword still clutched in her hand.

"Damn… You…" She grunted, struggling to raise her head from the ground. Her efforts proved fruitless, however, and Natsu just stepped back, the flames and the heat receding.

"You'd better finish me, or I _will_ make you regret it later," Erza said from the ground, the words straining from her lips in a grating, hoarse tone.

Natsu stopped and turned to her, and Wendy saw the anger in his eyes. "Don't think I'm not tempted," he said, his voice harder than it ever had been before. "But tempted or not, I don't need to kill you. Just don't mess with Fairy Tail again, or I'll beat you down even worse next time."

Erza's lips moved as though she were making a retort, but consciousness was already slipping from her. Finally her eyes closed, and she joined her fallen comrades.

"We should tie them all up to slow them down once they awaken," Natsu said matter-of-factly as the guild suddenly faded away and disappeared behind them.

"What about Edolas' Fairy Tail, Natsu-nii?" Wendy asked, coming up beside him.

"Who knows where they went?" Natsu shrugged. "We're gonna' have to try to make it to the capital in time. That's the best we can do now."

"Jellal, that is Mystogan, seemed pretty sure we'd never make it on foot," Wendy said, recalling the masked mage's instructions to find Fairy Tail and get a magical vehicle to take them most of the distance.

"Well, it could take us longer to find Fairy Tail if we look for them now," Natsu said with a shrug. "The best we can do is head toward the capital and hope it all works out somehow."

Wendy nodded, surprised that she didn't hear the familiar sound of Natsu's blue companion chiming in with an "aye sir." She looked back to where Happy and Carla had been when the battle started only to see empty space.

Happy and Carla were gone.

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So that's that chapter. Read and review if you enjoyed it!


	8. Chapter 8

**Alright, so here's chapter 8... Chapter 8 is late. Chapter 8 is great. Or maybe not. It could be rot.

Eh, um... I think this is where I say something like 'I don't own Fairy Tail. It's Mashima's. So I don't really care what he does with it. Fairy Tail is dead to me.' oooooo

So, eh. That said. I know what you did last summer o.O.

I mean, er. Read. And Review.

This, not the manga. Don't read the manga unless you want to see Mashima continue to piss away what started out as a great storyline! o.O

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"Carla! Where are you?!" Wendy yelled. She knew it was pointless to continue to call out, but she'd never been away from her exceed for long. Now she was gone, and despite her bossy, sometimes overbearing attitude, Wendy cared deeply for Carla.

She knew Natsu felt the same for Happy, but he had long since stopped calling the blue exceed's name. She jumped as she felt his hand on her shoulder.

"It's no use Wendy. Wherever they've gone, they're not planning on coming back, and we need to get going."

"But what if they're still nearby? What if they got kidnapped, or injured?" Wendy protested, not wanting to leave without Carla.

"Their scent is very weak, so they're not nearby," Natsu said quietly. "If they're kidnapped, then the most likely place to look would be the king's palace anyway. So let's get going if we want to have any hope of saving them."

Wendy sighed, knowing that Natsu was right but still not wanting to leave without her friend.

"Come on, Wendy. If we don't hurry, a lot of people could die for the king's power play."

Wordlessly, Wendy turned and followed the dragon slayer in the direction that they were told the palace was. As much as she wanted to bring Carla with her, she knew she'd never be able to forgive herself if her nii-san's whole guild died just because she wouldn't help him save them in time. The duo moved quickly, Wendy's enchantment magic lending speed to their feet as they traveled across the world of Edolas.

Minutes turned into hours, and Wendy was feeling tired and hungry. How were they going to eat anyway? They didn't have any money, and who knew what Edolas used for currency? She could only keep this pace for a little longer before they would have to stop…

Then, just when she felt she couldn't go another moment, Natsu stopped. She stopped as well, looking ahead to see what might have caused him to come to a halt so suddenly. Then she saw it. They were on a hill overlooking a valley, and on the other side of the valley she could see houses scattered on an opposing hill. Houses that indicated they were reaching a populated area.

Natsu motioned to her to get off the main road, and she complied. They moved slower now as they approached the city, keeping to the scattered boulders and shrubs that lay around the road as much as possible. They came up the hill behind the houses, scurrying from house to house only after looking for signs of the soldiers.

They continued in this manner, heading steadily closer to the populated area of town, till finally Wendy found herself following Natsu in and out of alleys. Now they were seeing more soldiers, having to move carefully to avoid the patrols. It was starting to get dark now, and throughout the city lamps of fire were lit.

"No magic," Wendy muttered as they went along. Everywhere she saw what looked like magic lights like the ones in Earthland, but none of them were lit. Every business had a lamp or a candle set at its entrance to indicate if it was open. The streets were also lit by lamps scattered along their length.

"Yo," Wendy jumped at the voice behind her and turned around. A strange looking man in a business outfit was behind them, a clipboard and pen in his hand. He had a few piercings and long, black hair, and in Wendy's opinion he was kind of scary looking. Natsu turned as well, dropping into a fighting stance.

"What do you want?" He demanded. Then he looked closer. "Gajeel?"

"You've heard of me," the man seemed impressed. "That's right. I'm Gajeel. And you two look like the kind of people who might be interested in the scoop."

"The scoop?" Wendy questioned, not sure if she heard him right.

"That's right young lady. The scoop. The inside story. The news."

"Oh, you must be this world's Gajeel," Natsu said matter-of-factly.

The man identified as Gajeel stared at him. "Of course I'm this world's Gajeel. Are you implying there are others?"

"There's one in our world too," Natsu replied. "He's a part of my guild, actually."

"What do you mean 'your world'?" Gajeel asked. "Wait. Are you from that world that the king is trying to get magic from?"

"That's right," Natsu said. "And your king just sucked up my entire guild, and from what I heard he plans to turn the giant lacrima that they've become into magic power for this world."

"Ah, so you know already." Gajeel smirked. "But do you know where they are?"

"I assume near the palace," Natsu replied.

Gajeel's smirk faltered slightly. "Yeah. They're by the palace." Then it returned. "And I can help you get there."

"You can?!" Wendy squeaked before she could stop herself.

"Of course," Gajeel said. "I'm a reporter after all. I know everything there is to know about this place. Ge he."

"Well what are we waiting for then?" Natsu said, a fire in his eyes. "Take us there!"

"First you gotta' calm down," Gajeel said. "You may be strong, but there's a bunch of soldiers and shit down there that'll tire you out before you have a chance to rescue your buddies."

Wendy couldn't help a small giggle when she saw the deflated expression on Natsu's face. Natsu-nii was a great person who she really looked up to and respected, but he preferred to tackle problems head-on.

She then frowned, thinking about his guild. Odd that seemed to be the one problem he didn't charge into. Rather, he seemed to be running from it. He didn't seem to be bitter, really. It would be hard to put words to what he thought and felt. In recent days, when he opened up a little more, she learned that he swore not to come back to Fairy Tail till he was at least as strong as their strongest member. That could be years though! From the way he talked about his former team now, she often wondered if they wouldn't be returning already if not for that promise.

"Come on Wendy!" Natsu's voice dragged her from her thoughts, and she realized they were moving. She followed Gajeel and Natsu as they darted across an open street to an alley a little further down. It was a long alley, headed in the direction that Gajeel said the palace lay. The experience was far from pleasant. The walls on each side rose up, seeming to squeeze in gradually as they made their way along. The eaves on the overhanging roofs blocked out most of the bright sunlight and the accompanying view of the beautiful azure sky. Yet, for all the dangers that seemed ready to leap from waiting shadows, no soldiers or other enemies appeared in the alley.

On they ran, changing direction as they moved upward to the next layer of this multi-tiered city. Once in a while they stopped, waiting for an eternity till the footsteps of a patrol faded into the distance before darting forward across more open spaces. Yet they got ever closer to the center, and highest, tier of the royal city. The home of the king, and the giant lacrima that held all their friends hostage.

They were within view of the palace now, and Natsu was ready to charge. But something above them caught Wendy's eye, and she tugged on Natsu's vest, pointing up. There, landing on a terrace of the royal palace, was a familiar, red-headed woman riding a giant flying, dragonoid type thing. The same thing they'd seen earlier at the Fairy Tail guild. The woman was greeted by a couple of men with a rather unique fashion sense. They exchanged a few words, then headed quickly into the building.

"They are likely going to see the king," Gajeel smirked. "If you want to get to the palace, you'd best hurry, before your time runs out."

Wendy looked up at Natsu, who just nodded and held out his hand. As soon as she took it, he turned and sprinted across the open space between them and the small doorway ahead. Wendy struggled to keep up, finally casting Vernier just before they reached their destination to allow her to keep pace with the older dragon slayer.

 **~~~~~~~Happy and Carla~~~~~~**

"Carla, can we stop now?"

Happy didn't wait for an answer. He just stopped. Answers or no, he couldn't go on any further.

First off, they were really slow on the ground. It hadn't taken long for them to figure out they couldn't fly in Edolas, but they weren't really sure why. They had to attribute it to being in Edolas. But that didn't matter. What mattered was the fact that they'd been running for hours, and he was exhausted.

"I told you, we need to keep going!" Carla yelled, turning back and stopping momentarily. Her breathing was heavy as well, and he could see that she was barely staying on her feet. Why the urgency to push on then?

"Why are you so eager to get away from Natsu and Wendy. They're our best friends!"

She just shook her head at him, frowning. "You really don't remember, do you, you worthless he-cat?"

Happy was just more confused. Remember what? The first thing he remembered was Natsu's enormous smile, and of course Lisanna.

"How could you possibly forget?" She looked like she was close to tears now. "Since we were sent to earthland we've had this mission. This destiny. And you just live in your dense little world, happily oblivious to all of it."

"What are you talking about? I'm pretty sure I hatched from that egg as a baby." Happy was getting tired of this. This was the third time since they were separated from the humans that Carla was acting like there was some past and some present mission that he should know and be concerned about. But he was certain there wasn't. He'd remember something that important.

"Tch." Carla scoffed, turning away. However, it seemed that stopping their hasty escape reminded her legs of how tired they were, and she sat down slowly on the ground. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to stop for a bit. If they were coming after us we'd know it by now anyway."

Happy nodded, sitting down as well. He still didn't know why they were running away from the two that were their best friends. Nor did he know where they were going. But at least they were actually making sense now. Just stopping to rest for a while…

If only they could fly, things would be so much easier. Any one of the floating rocks would be well out of Natsu and Wendy's reach. But, unfortunately, they'd been unable to even sprout their wings since arriving in Edolas. Neither of them could figure out why.

"I still think we should be with Natsu and Wendy," Happy said, looking at his toes as he sighed defeatedly. As much as he relished the idea of spending time alone with Carla, this didn't feel like the right time or place for that. They were in a strange world that he'd never seen before, and even though Carla seemed to have some grand scheme he had no idea what was going on.

"We can't go back to them," Carla insisted.

"Fine," Happy said, laying back and using his pack for a pillow. He wasn't about to argue with Carla. She was always right, after all, even when she wasn't. "Where are we going then?"

That seemed to give her pause. At least, she remained silent for several moments. When she finally did speak, her tone was a bit more muted. "We're going to the land where other cats like us live."

"Which is where?" Happy asked, guessing from her tone that she had no idea.

"We'll know when we get there." Yep. That confirmed it.

"So basically we have no idea where we're going, and we just left Natsu and Wendy because of some grand scheme for yours. Are you even sure this mission stuff is real?" Happy wasn't usually one to question people (or cats) that were obviously smarter than him, but he was getting fed up with this. Natsu was preparing to most likely launch an attack on the palace. He didn't know how he'd be able to help without his wings, but he was sure he could do something. Anything was better than running in the other direction.

"Of course I'm sure this mission was real." Carla snapped, glaring at him. "I'm not surprised a dumb he-cat like you would have forgotten though. You're a disgrace!"

"Aye sir!" Happy didn't feel like engaging any further at this point, so he just reverted to his normal, carefree behavior he'd learned as Natsu's 'son.'

Then, not caring that Carla would probably want to move on soon, he decided it was time to take a nap. This was as good a place as any, after all. They'd long since left any semblance of a road.

 **~~~~~~Natsu and Wendy~~~~~~**

Natsu sighed inwardly as they ran through the palace. If Gajeel's intel was right, it was imperative for him to obtain a special key the king would need to enact his plan. A key that he was ready to obtain at all costs. The problem was all these annoying guards. Scores of guards already lay behind them, and since the alarm had been sounded he'd begun to wonder if maybe he should've opted to break the guild out of the lacrima.

But then again, what good would that do? Mystogan didn't give him any extra berries, and without those nobody would even be able to use magic. Then he and Wendy would still be on their own for all practical purposes.

Speaking of Mystogan, where was that idiot anyway? He was going to help them out once they made it to the palace. But he said he had some things to take care of first. Natsu was really counting on him, since he said he knew his way around the palace.

So far things had gone pretty smoothly. Between him and Wendy, they'd managed to deal with all the guards that attacked them so far without expending much magic power. Of course, most of the guards were like rune knights. Even large companies of them could be taken down with a powerful enough attack.

That aside, Natsu was impressed with Wendy's progression in her dragon slayer magic. When he first met her she was strong, sure, but not nearly as strong as most mages in their guild. In the short time they'd been together, her magic had improved to the point where she could easily rival Juvia, and even Gray. She might have even been able to rival him if he hadn't been pouring himself into training the past few months, and that was impressive.

Suddenly a young girl jumped out in front of them in a fighting position. Natsu blinked, skidding to a halt so hard that he felt Wendy bump into him from behind. He stumbled forward a couple steps, his eyes never leaving the girl in front of him.

She was short – shorter even than Wendy, perhaps – with long brown hair, a lightly tanned complexion, and dark reddish circles on her cheeks just below her eyes. She wore blue pants and a blue shirt with a drab yellow dress that came down to about her mid thighs. She also had some kind of weird blue and white collar that draped loosely over her shoulders, and her head was topped with a dark green hat that had two long ear-like pieces hanging from the side, almost giving her head the impression of a dog's head. Natsu couldn't help almost chuckling when he saw it.

"What's so funny?" The little girl glared at him, and he realized this desire to laugh was showing on his face.

"Nothing, nothing at all." Natsu tried to keep a straight face, but it just wouldn't happen.

The next thing he knew she was running at him, and he barely avoided a kick to the face. Then another.

"Wow, you're really fast," he commented as he dodged the attacks, having no desire to retaliate against a little girl. "But could you, um, stop attacking me? I don't really want to fight you."

He was then surprised when a very fast, and fairly powerful, wind coated foot struck the young girl and knocked her into the wall, effectively knocking her out. He turned to see Wendy, an unusual scowl on her gentle face.

"Are you kidding me?" She said when she caught his gaze. "You're not gonna' fight her because she's a little girl? She chose to be involved in this, just like I did!"

Then she put her hand over her mouth, turning a deep shade of red. "S-sorry Natsu-nii!" She said, turning away.

"Hey, it's cool Wendy. That's why I have you," Natsu said with a grin. This seemed to placate her, as she then turned to half tackle him in a hug.

"Alright," Natsu said, ruffling her hair gently. "We need to keep moving before someone else catches up with us."

"I'm afraid it's too late for that," came a new, male voice that Natsu instantly hated. Looking up, he could instantly see why he hated that voice. In fact, he could almost swear he could hear Elfman screaming something about the most unmanly of men. I mean, come on. The guy had pink armor and hair that was an insult to fashion! It was disgusting just to look at him, despite the key that he twirled in his hand.

Wait, key. Key was important, somehow. Something about some super weapon the king had. This was absolutely key to ensure their victory. Yes, you could say it was the key element in their plan.

 _[[Natsu: jumps out of the story and smacks author._

 _OWWWW T_T OK, I'll be good!]]_

Next to the eccentric weirdo with the loud annoying voice stood a quieter dude with hair that was weird in a totally different, but totally weird, way. I mean, purple with just some random long locks of white? What was this guy, Edo-Anna or something? He half expected to hear someone start singing 'let it go.'

 _[[Natsu: Smacks author again. "This isn't a crack fic."_

 _U.U but I can't help it….]]_

Natsu squared off against the two, a smirk coming to his lips despite the pathetic excuse for a man that held the key. "Heh. Thanks for saving me the trouble of looking for you. I need that key."

"What, this key?" The unnamed dude flipped the key in the air. "Well you can't have—"

Before the key came down Natsu intercepted it with his lightning fast reflexes. "You were saying?"

He then saw the other dude charging at him, and quickly powered up his feet, hitting him with a savage kick enhanced with his flames. Then he turned back to the other guy, who had just pulled out his swords.

"Tch. Weak," he said, and blasted him with a fire dragon's roar.

Behind him, he heard the other guy get up. But before he could even turn to take care of him Wendy attacked, putting him back on the floor. Permanently.

"That was almost too easy," he muttered. Then he ran toward the area where he hoped the king would be, Wendy following close behind.

 **~~~~~~Break for A/N~~~~~~**

Yeah, ok… To be honest I'm getting tired of writing the Edolas arc, so here's the quick run-down. Natsu and Wendy continue through the palace till they find the king. They stop him from enacting his plan to turn the lacrima into magic power. But then the king activates Dorma Anim.

Meanwhile, Happy and Carla accidentally run into Happy's parents. They have several conversations, after which Carla determines that the way forward is to find Extalia and confront the queen. Happy agrees, and they suddenly discover that they can fly because their minds are clear. Happy's parents point them to Extalia. Carla learns the truth about her "mission."

We rejoin Natsu and Wendy as they face off against Dorma Anim…

 **~~~~~~End A/N~~~~~~**

"Wendy, are you seeing this?" Natsu rubbed his eyes to make sure this wasn't some kind of hallucination. Their victory had been assured! All the things that stood in their way gone! And suddenly, this big, metallic….. thing – roughly dragonoid in shape, stood in front of them. He could tell just by looking that it wasn't going to be easy to take down.

"Yes Natsu-nii," Apparently Wendy hadn't realized he didn't expect an answer to his question. Oh well.

"Fire Dragon's ROAR!" He blasted the thing with his roar, smirking. That was one of his strongest attacks since he arrived at Edolas. Probably be enough to leave the fake dragon in…

Well shit. That didn't work. Apparently his roar only succeeded in knocking this new monstrosity back a few feet. It stood there, arms crossed in front of it, no damage showing on the metal surface.

"Well, this should be no problem for us together, right Wendy?" Natsu said with a grin.

"Of course Natsu-nii!" The sky maiden said as she jumped up next to him, preparing to attack.

Natsu was about to shoot off another roar when he felt something from beside him. He quickly pivoted out of the way, pulling Wendy with him. A flash of steel and scarlet flew past him, and Erza Knightwalker pivoted quickly, her face twisted into a glare.

"I told you it was a mistake to leave me alive," she snarled, her spear at the ready…

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And... That's done. Now for some scotch. Drop a review o.O... Next chapter should be the last Edolas chapter.

YAY!


	9. Chapter 9

**-DISCLAIMER- I DON'T OWN FAIRY TAIL -DISCLAIMER-**

 **So, this is Chapter 9 of 'Lost.' Sorry it took so long to get up, but I've been pretty busy. I'm not entirely sure yet what will be updated next, but I'll probably still try to focus some energy on my shorter stories so I can clear those out and get to the stories everyone's waiting for updates in. Also, I'm kind of feeling another one-shot coming on... Possibly a Navis**

 **Anywho, read. Enjoy. Review. Thanks to all my wonderful readers!**

 **Random thought... What do you call the NatsuxLevy ship anyway? NaLe? NaVy? Lena? Letsu?**

* * *

"Wendy, do you think you can handle Knightwalker?"

Wendy shook her head emphatically. She'd seen Erza's fight with Natsu in front of Fairy Tail, and she knew she wouldn't be able to keep up with the swordswoman. She might be able to keep her busy for a few minutes, but she knew that Natsu needed her to beat the woman, not just keep her busy.

She also felt guilty as she knew this answer put Natsu in a bit of a predicament. They both knew that she couldn't keep Dorma Anim busy long enough for Natsu to take Knightwalker out.

"Well, I guess we just hold out as long as we can and hope for the best," Natsu said, getting into a ready position.

Wendy nodded determinedly, casting enchants on Natsu and herself. If they were to even have a chance in this battle, they would need every last ounce of their strength. It was already bad enough with Dorma Anim, and now Knightwalker!

However, just before the battle began again, a blur of red came out of nowhere and struck Knightwalker from the side, knocking her back despite her quick parry. Wendy gasped as the blur stopped moving, revealing itself to be Erza Scarlet, currently wearing a basic armor set composed of a plain-looking breastplate, skirt, and a sword.

"How did you get here?" Natsu asked irritably before Wendy could say anything.

"I brought her because I knew you couldn't do this alone." The man who stepped forward was revealed to be Mystogan. "It took me a few days to help her remember her magic, but fortunately once you learn magic, it's easy to re-learn."

"Well, it'll be useful to have an ally I guess," Natsu said with a sigh. "If you can take care of Knightwalker, Wendy and I will do the rest."

Erza Scarlet just nodded tersely, and the sounds of swords clashing soon rang through the battlefield. Wendy smiled, able to focus her attention back on Dorma Anim with Natsu.

"You should be easier on her Natsu-nii," she said quietly. "Whatever it is she did in the past, she can't remember any of it."

"That's precisely the problem," Natsu said as he dodged an attack fired by the machine they were fighting. "If she remembered, I could talk about it and move past it. But she has no idea what it is that she did, so where does that leave me? I don't want to tell her what happened, because then how will I know if she actually feels remorse or not?"

Wendy frowned. "Well I see your point," she said, dodging a swipe from Dorma Anim, "you don't know if she'll ever recover her memory. Do you intend to treat her this way forever?"

"No," Natsu said, dodging another attack from the machine before firing back with an iron fist that connected solidly. "But I swore when I left the guild not to return until I was at least as powerful as somebody. I still have a long way to go before I get there."

"How powerful is this person?!" Wendy asked, shocked, as she blocked an attack, mitigating the damage rather than dodging to give her an opportunity to counter.

"Every time I fought him, he always beat me with just one punch," Natsu answered, causing Wendy's jaw to drop. For a moment she forgot she was in battle. Someone was that much more powerful than Natsu? And someone in Fairy Tail? Wait.

"Is he the master?" She guessed, as she was jolted back to reality by Natsu pulling her out of the way of a well-aimed blast from Dorma Anim.

"No. We'll talk more later," Natsu said through gritted teeth.

Wendy supposed he had a point. They needed to start fighting Dorma Anim in earnest if they were ever going to have a chance of survival.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu's fire coated fist launched into the machine, knocking it back a bit with a force. Still, there didn't seem to be a lot of damage. Then they were both moving as the machine struck back again.

"We need to find a weak point." Wendy nodded as Natsu's voice reached her. Finding a weak point wouldn't be easy. As a machine, there was no good place to start, since the general rules of people didn't apply. Still…

"Perhaps we could try the mouth, Natsu-nii," she suggested as she managed to avoid another attack from Dorma Anim.

"Good thinking Wendy!" He flashed his bright grin at her, and she blushed at the praise. As the mechanical dragon opened its mouth for another attack, Natsu charged forward. Taking the full force of the attack, he ignited his fist, slamming it full force into the creature's open mouth.

Wendy could've cheered as she heard the sound of metal breaking, but before they could press the advantage the mouth snapped shut. The voice of the king came from inside.

"So you worms have figured out a way to break the dragon's hide. It won't do you any good if the mouth stays shut. These limbs are more than enough to beat you."

"Natsu, Wendy!" Wendy resisted the urge to turn toward Mystogan when he called out, focusing on the raging dragon in front of them instead. "Dorma Anim is almost impossible to beat. It's specially made of an alloy that nullifies all magic! You need to pull back while I think of a better plan!"

"All magic?" Natsu said with a smirk. "Our attacks may not be doing much, but there is some damage. Look closer, Mystogan!"

As the machine closed in on her for another strike, Wendy hesitated a moment to examine the metal closely. Natsu was right! Sure, there weren't any enormous cracks in the armor, but hairline fractures and scratches were beginning to appear in the areas Natsu had been targeting. She leapt back, but she wasn't quite fast enough. Pain erupted in her side and the arm that she brought up to block as her body was sent spinning from the force of the impact. She managed to tuck her chin into her chest as she landed, preventing the back of her head from hitting the ground. From there, she was able to regain her feet with a little assistance from her hands.

No sooner had she reached her feet than she wished she stayed on the ground a moment longer. Dorma Anim was hurtling at her, clawed limbs ready to finish what they'd started, and only a few feet away. There was no way she'd be able to dodge in time at this rate. She hurriedly readied her roar, hoping to slow the machine down enough to soften the blow.

But then something hit it from the side, hard, and it went tumbling across the battlefield. Wendy looked up toward her savior and gasped. It was Natsu, but this was a different Natsu. His fire had taken on a fierce glow, his teeth grown more fang-like in their appearance. Scales coated his entire body, and his hands ended in clawed talons rather than normal fingers. The pressure from his magic power was increased tenfold, and his eyes glowed a brilliant orange color like the fire that encompassed his body.

Wendy couldn't help shivering at the sight. It was the first time she'd ever seen Natsu in full dragon force, and as proud as she was of her big brother she couldn't help feeling just a little bit nervous. It wasn't that she was afraid he would hurt her. Natsu-nii would never do anything to hurt her! It was the realization of what it meant to have the power of a dragon living inside of you. A power that she could access too if she trained more!

"You!" She heard the rage in Natsu's voice, deeper and darker than his usual carefree tones. "You dared to attack Wendy? If there is one thing I won't forgive you for it's harming someone who's precious to me!"

"What-what are you?" The king's voice sounded shaky. Less sure than the arrogant tones he'd addressed them with till now. Yet still the machine readied itself and charged. Natsu stood, as though rooted to the spot, as the enemy came closer at an alarming speed.

"NATSU!" Wendy shouted. She wanted to push him out of the way, but it was too late! She could never reach him in time! The machine was too close!

Then Natsu moved, his flame-enveloped hands moving to catch the hurtling machine. Wendy watched in amazement as the image of a giant fire dragon appeared around him, its arms holding back the assault of Dorma Anim with him. "Fire Dragon's Secret Technique," the words seemed to whisper from the flames rather than from the dragon slayer's slightly opened lips. "Vengeful Strike!" The flames roared up at the last words, the dragon's body coalescing into a brilliant red-orange flame that struck Dorma Anim like a giant bomb. Wendy shielded her eyes from the light as the spell exploded, knocking the machine dragon back through the air as it enveloped the whole area, almost up to Wendy, in a bright, hot-white flame.

She found herself gasping for breath, her body covered with sweat as the fire sucked the oxygen out of the air around her, begging for more. The heat grew in intensity, like she was sitting next to the summit of an erupting volcano, and all she could do was try to bear it. For almost a full minute the flames raged on. Then they disappeared. The air temperature dropped instantly. Wendy let out a long breath, almost shivering at the touch of the cool breeze against her face and neck.

Natsu still stood in the middle of the battlefield, his eyes looking no less fierce despite having faded back to their usual onyx color. The scales and talons were also gone, leaving the pink-haired dragon slayer in his normal human state. After doing a visual check to make sure he was ok, Wendy's eyes searched for their opponent, which she found shortly after. Dorma Anim lay decimated, all of its limbs completely gone, with the rest of its body charred and mangled on the ground. At that moment only one thought echoed through her mind. _The king!_

She ran up to the dragon and easily stripped away what was left of the covering. The king remained strapped into the creature's heavily damaged control center. His eyes, frozen in a wide, disbelieving state, turned slowly to meet hers. She ignored the man's trembling lips that seemed as though they were trying to speak and did a quick visual inspection. His left arm was obviously broken, though thankfully not bad enough for the bone to break skin. His right foot looked as though the ankle had just become another joint, and much of the rest of his body was bruised and slightly burned.

A further examination revealed nothing worse than 2nd Degree Burns, and Wendy sighed in relief. She didn't have a lot of energy left for healing right now.

By the time she extracted the king from his machine, Natsu was laying quietly on the battlefield, the fierce anger gone from his eyes. Tearing her eyes forcefully from the scene, Wendy resisted the urge to run immediately to her big brother's aid. She knew his magic was just depleted, but if she didn't heal Faust soon he might sustain worse injuries or even die.

The first thing she had to do was get the bones that were broken back into their proper place. Steeling her mind against the image of torn and slightly scorched flesh, she first took the ankle in her hands and snapped the bone back into place. Then she placed her hands over the injury, allowing her healing magic to flow and knit the bone and flesh back together. When the ankle was completely healed, she turned her attention to the broken arm, snapping that into place as well. Then she healed any dangerous burns and other really bad injuries she found, but she left many of the bruises and lesser wounds. After all, he did just try to kill them, after trying to turn Natsu's entire guild into a giant magic lacrima. She wasn't heartless, but she didn't want him to have it too easy either.

Once she was sure that he would live and that he wasn't in too much pain, Wendy rushed over to Natsu's side, checking him for injuries. To her relief, he hadn't sustained any damage beyond the physical exhaustion from overusing his magic, again.

It was only after checking on Natsu that the battle of the Erzas returned to her mind, and she stood quickly, surveying the battlefield for a sign of the powerful duo.

She finally found them some distance away, collapsed opposite each other on the battlefield. It would appear that since they were each others' counterparts, their strength was about equal. She hurried over to Erza Scarlet first, but as she approached she realized their eyes were still open and their breathing was steady. Still, she did a basic check for injuries to make sure each was alright before returning to her big brother.

When she got back to Natsu, she found Mystogan there, this time with a large black cat who carried an enormous sword. He smiled at her when she approached.

"Well Wendy, the war is over now thanks to you and Natsu here. Now Fairy Tail can be safely returned to Earthland."

Wendy nodded. She was glad that the war was over, but there were a few things she was still curious about. "You said some time ago the king was responsible for all the anima that tried to suck our magic into Edolas. How did he make that work?"

"There is a machine in the castle that controls the anima. I don't' know how it was created or where he got the knowledge to make such a machine, but his goal was to revive the magic here in Edolas." His features changed as he looked toward the floating islands before adding, "I've already told you magic in Edolas is fading, and you've learned that guilds are all considered dark guilds because magic guilds are illegal here. But it wasn't always this way, and not everyone agrees that the king's solution of siphoning magic from another world is the best solution…"

He then sighed, casting his eyes to the palace that stood a short distance away. "With the king defeated, I must reverse the Anima if we are going to return Fairy Tail to Earthland. However, that means that not only Fairy Tail, but all things with magic in them will be pushed out of Edolas. Magic will be no more. The people won't like it, and will probably think of me as a terrible ruler. But there's no other way."

Wendy couldn't think of anything to say as Mystogan turned back toward the palace and headed in that direction with Panther Lily. When the pair was a safe distance away, she heard a voice whisper softly, "Maybe there is another way." She looked down to see Natsu, his eyes open now with a small grin on his face.

"Natsu-nii!" She quickly wrapped him in a bone-crushing hug, forgetting for a moment the world around them.

Natsu just grinned at her as she slowly pulled back, and both of them got to their feet. He then grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the palace. "Let's go Wendy. We're gonna' give the new king a reason for the people to love him."

Wendy nodded, happily following him toward the palace. She didn't know what his plan was, but she trusted him enough to follow his lead anywhere.

 **~~~~~~Some time prior, in an unknown location on Edolas~~~~~~**

"I thought you knew where we were going, Carla," Happy complained. They'd been wandering for a whole day and still seemed no closer to their destination, the city of cats that Carla promised. He was doubting her 'memories' even more now, and she wouldn't share with him what big mission he was supposedly missing.

"I do. I'm just having trouble remembering how to get there," Carla responded, but it sounded to Happy like she was trying to convince herself as much as him. His ears also picked up a lower comment, no doubt intended only for her own ears. "I just wish these damn wings would work."

Happy thought about saying something, but then changed his mind. Giving Carla a hard time about her memories and her ability to use flight would only make the situation worse. Perhaps they could find some place to fish, or…

His train of thought ground to a screeching halt as a shadow passed over them. He looked up to see the source, and saw the shapes of several cats flying over them. They both stopped as the exceeds came to rest on the ground in front of them.

"Men!" Exclaimed the one that appeared to be the leader. An ugly cat with large, squarish features. He reminded Happy of someone he'd seen in Earthland, but he couldn't quite place the face…

"What do you want?!" Carla asked, a little irritably, as the cat-like creatures blocked their path.

"The queen wishes to see you, men!" The cat replied. "You will come with us immediately, men!"

"Why should we come to see your queen?" Carla demanded, even though she'd previously said that was precisely where she was going. Happy did a mental face-palm as he stepped forward to interrupt.

"Maybe we should start again," he said politely. "I'm Happy and this is Carla. We're from Earthland, but we got pulled into this world by some weird force. What are your names?"

"I'm Nichiya, the captain of the queen's guard, men!" The square-featured ugly exceed responded. "The queen has foreseen your coming and requires an audience with you. Men!"

"Nichiya…" Happy shuddered as he recalled who this blockhead reminded him of. Though he'd never seen him in person, Ichiya from Blue Pegasus had been featured once in a Sorcerer magazine, having been given the dubious honor of bearing the title 'ugliest official guild mage in Fiore.' Apparently it wasn't just the looks that were similar. Seeing a quizzical look on the exceed's face, he quickly regained his composure. "Well we would like to speak to the queen as well. We'll come with you."

"Alright, follow us, MEN!" With those words Nichiya rocketed off into the sky, followed by the 4 guards who accompanied him. Happy and Carla watched them fly several hundred feet, talking and laughing, before they suddenly turned back. Instantly they flew back to their position, surrounding them with swords and spears pointed at them.

"So you tried to trick us, men!" Nichiya said. "You will come with us willingly or not."

"We would come willingly," Happy replied. "But I'm afraid we are unable to fly."

"An exceed who can't fly? I've never heard of such a thing, Men!" Nichiya said.

Happy sighed. "Well, if we could fly, we wouldn't have been walking around on the ground like this just waiting for you to catch us, now would we?"

The strange looking cat put a finger to his chin, considering the statement. Happy waited, watching Nichiya's eyes move back and forth. Finally he seemed to reach his conclusion.

"Very well, we will carry you to see the queen. Perhaps she will know why you can't fly."

Happy just nodded his assent. He would just be glad to get this whole 'mission' business figured out so life could go back to normal. Carla, on the other hand, wasn't so quick to agree. She protested every step of the way. He could swear she never stopped complaining about the undignified transport from the time they picked them up to the time they were deposited in front of the queen.

The queen cut a grand figure in her royal gown, standing high above the other exceeds that were all no taller than Happy and Carla. Her height really wasn't important, though. Happy was only interested in one thing, and once the formal greetings were over he let her know it.

"So this is where we're really from, huh? Tell me why you sent us to Earthland so I can finally start making some sense of all this mission stuff Carla keeps talking about."

Carla looked like she was ready to throttle him, but he shrugged it off. Perhaps it was all the time spent with Natsu that brought out this straightforward, blunt part of his personality. Perhaps it was his annoyance with the way Carla treated him like an idiot because he couldn't remember this 'mission' they supposedly had. Either way, he was ready for the truth and unwilling to tolerate any delay.

The queen looked at him for a moment, her eyes registering confusion. Happy felt his jaw threatening to drop, and it was only through supreme exertion of will that he kept his face from giving away anything. He might have expected any reaction but this. Chagrin. Remorse. Resignation. All of those seemed like plausible reactions for someone in her position, but confusion?

The look quickly faded, leaving him to wonder if he'd imagined the response. The queen gestured to him and Carla. "Come with me," she said.

They followed her into the palace, to the throne room. Once inside, the queen ordered all but one of her advisers to leave. Many of them objected to her being left alone with these strange exceeds, but when she was firm with them they left, one after another. Soon it was just the four of them. The queen then stepped out from her royal robes, revealing that she was, in actuality, the same size as all the other exceeds.

She began by telling Happy and Carla that she didn't know anything about any mission. She then went on to explain that some time ago several exceed eggs were sent to Earthland with the hopes that the babies would be born into a better life than what they would have here in Edolas, where the humans hated them. She continued to reveal that, though the humans currently believed they were super powerful rulers, this was just a façade to keep the exceed race from being persecuted by the humans as they were before.

Happy couldn't help noticing that Carla looked very similar to the queen as they were talking. When the queen finally finished her explanation, Carla chimed in again, sounding every bit as confused as Happy was feeling right now.

"But… I've been seeing bits and pieces of this mission for years. Everything, from our arrival on Edolas to when we were supposed to betray our dragon slayers to the guards…"

Happy looked at Carla, shocked to hear of this. It was his first time ever thinking of such a thing. Betray Natsu?! There was no way that would ever happen! It hadn't even entered his mind, consciously or otherwise! He was sure of it! What was Carla going on about?!

"I assure you there was no such mission," the queen said quietly. "Perhaps you can describe what you remember?"

"It's not really a conscious memory…" Carla said, her face flushed red with anger and confusion. "It was images. Images of us returning to Edolas with our dragon slayers. Images of us 'guiding' them through 'secret' ways. And then the images of their ultimate betrayal into the hands of the king's soldiers. THEY WERE REAL IMAGES!" Her voice rose drastically at that point. "Already many of them had come true, and if we hadn't separated the rest would've too!"

The queen frowned, looking at Carla thoughtfully, before she responded. "Carla, I think something else may be going on here…" She looked away before looking back at the two, glancing briefly at Happy before focusing squarely on Carla.

"I think you have the same power that I do," she said quietly. "The power of precognition. It was this power that I used to convince the humans of our power. To convince them that I could shape the future, but in reality I could only see it…"

"See… The future?" Carla still looked confused, but Happy could see in her face that she was starting to get the picture. From the little that she and the queen were saying, he thought he was beginning to understand as well.

"Yes. In other words, those images you saw… You thought they were a mission. You believed you were sent to do that to the dragon slayers, because you couldn't explain why else those images were there. But the truth is, they were precognitions. You were seeing pieces of events that would take place in the future…"

"You mean… Wendy and Natsu were still in danger?!" Carla frowned, her voice rising rapidly.

"That I can't say for sure," the queen responded. "The thing about precognition is that unexpected events can throw it off. That's why even I was able to convince the people that I could shape the future. Your steps in moving away from the dragon slayers may have allowed them a freer path to their goal."

"What should we do now then?" Happy could no longer keep from speaking. Now that he knew for sure that this mission thing was all imagined, he wanted to get back to Natsu as soon as possible.

"Whatever your heart tells you," the queen said, a small smile on her lips. "I heard from some of my guards that you and Carla are unable to fly. In Edolas, we can all fly, and there's no limit. All you need is a clear heart."

"A clear heart…" Happy murmured, looking out over the city of Extalia. Suddenly it became clear to him again. The reason that he was here. The reason he stayed with Carla even though Natsu needed them. Carla needed to figure this out, and he needed to help her. But now that they knew the truth, he needed to return to Natsu, and she to Wendy.

"Let's go Carla," he said, a smile growing on his face as he felt the familiar white wings sprout from his back. "To Natsu and Wendy!"

Carla nodded slowly. It took a few moments, but soon her own wings sprouted, and the two were off.

But they'd barely left Extalia when, off in the direction of the castle, an enormous flash of red-orange fire reached up to the clouds, accompanied by an ear-shattering roar that Happy somehow knew had been heard through all Edolas. "Come on, quickly!" He called out, flying as fast as he could toward the capital.

Unfortunately, the capital was much further than it looked, and after only a couple hours of flying he found himself exhausted. He and Carla were able to land on a small farm, far out from the rest of the exceeds. There they met a grumpy old farmer and his sweet wife. And for the next couple hours they forgot all about returning to Wendy and Natsu. Until suddenly all of them, even the farming couple, found themselves floating up into the air of Edolas, a strange force pulling at them as though they would disappear from this world itself.

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 **And there ya have it folks. Hope you liked it!**


	10. Chapter 10

****DISCLAIMER** I don't own Fairy Tail or the characters. I only write about them **DISCLAIMER****

 **With the Edolas Arc over, things should go back to a more normal pacing here. And the NaLe development can finally begin. Slowly. Ever so slowly... Slowly...**

 **Eh, anyway, seriously glad to have the Edolas arc done. This chapter introduces Levy to Natsu's little group and starts setting up the plot for the next arc.**

 **Thanks to everyone who reads and reviews this story. Even teenagers who think they've got it all figured out and didn't bother to read beyond the second chapter (and made fools of themselves by making it evident in the review too). All I have to say to that is that if my stories aren't your style, don't bother reading them. People do character development differently.**

 **For everyone else, again, thanks for the reviews. Sorry for the wait, but here's chapter 10, finally!**

* * *

"Natsu, wait!"

Natsu turned slightly, ready to scowl in irritation at the blonde member of his former team that he was sure would be the only one to chase him down out here. But he was surprised as a small, blue-haired girl stopped just a few yards away. He supposed he should've recognized her scent, but then he and Levy didn't really interact that much in the guild so far.

"I'm sorry Levy, but I'm not coming back to the guild yet," he said quietly. He didn't have time for any long arguments. The longer he stuck around, the more likely it would be that his guild mates would come out and find him.

"I'm not asking you to. I want to come with you."

Natsu stared at her blankly, rendered momentarily speechless by her unexpected declaration. Finally he managed to form the question, "Why?"

Levy frowned. "I can't stay in the guild that let Gray off after what he did. I need some time away."

"How did you find me?" Natsu asked. He'd purposely sent Erza from close to the edge of town to avoid anyone from the guild getting out fast enough to catch him before he was out of town.

"I was out in Magnolia shopping when I saw Happy in the fish market," she said.

Natsu mentally face-palmed. He'd specifically told Happy not to go to the fish market since it was well known in the guild it was one of his favorite spots. Oh well, there were worse things that could happen, he supposed.

"Alright," he said finally. "If you want to come with us, let's go."

"Great!" Levy's face lit up with a smile. "I just need to pack a few things."

"We don't have time for that," Natsu said. "When Erza gets back to the guild, she's certain to tell everyone who brought her. She currently has amnesia, or I'm sure she would've tried to drag me back there herself."

Levy paled a little, suddenly looking torn. "But… All I have are these clothes… and a few books I bought in town…"

Natsu shrugged. "We can buy more stuff. Wendy and I were paid really well by a client recently." It wasn't technically a lie. Mystogan had told them to take the stash of jewels he left behind since they would be worthless in Edolas. It was too close to the guild for Natsu to pick it up after showing Erza the way back, so he'd gone in to get it beforehand. He had to admit even he was a little surprised by the amount Mystogan saved up. Though, honestly, he probably shouldn't have been. After all, he was an S class wizard who didn't even technically live in earthland.

When Levy still looked uncertain, he just shrugged and turned around. "Well, I'm leaving now, with or without you. If I wait here much longer I'm just gonna' end up having a bunch of conversations I don't want to have just yet."

He wasn't at all surprised when Levy quickly made up her mind, catching up to him and walking alongside him.

"So who is Wendy?" She asked.

"I met her shortly after I left," Natsu responded. "She's a dragon slayer like me and Gajeel."

He couldn't help noticing that Levy's face fell at the mention of Gajeel's name. "Something wrong?" He asked.

"I guess you weren't there, so you never heard…" Levy looked at her feet. "Gajeel's dead."

"What?! How?!" That was definitely unexpected. Gajeel, dead?!

A small tear trickled down Levy's cheek. "Gray tricked him into becoming the power source for some fake dragon… In the end he took it out, but he died in the process."

"What happened to Gray?" Natsu could hardly believe the stripper would betray a guildmate that way. Sure, he was an annoying ice prick, but he never would've thought he'd stoop that low.

"Nothing of much consequence," Levy said quietly looking down.

"I can't believe Gramps didn't do anything to him after something like that!" Natsu almost yelled.

"He had some explanation about the dragon needing to be destroyed from the inside…" Levy said, her voice catching toward the end as another tear spilled down her cheek, soon followed by another. "Master… Master said that since he was trying to help…" She paused, her voice catching again before stammering out, "he wouldn't b-be exiled or anything. He would just be barred from the S class trials this year…"

At that point she stopped, turning to Natsu with tears flooding her cheek. "Why couldn't you have been there?" She almost yelled. "Why? You could've found a way to save him." Her small fists pounded on his chest as she continued her tirade before collapsing against him, her tears soaking his vest.

Not knowing what else to do, Natsu hugged her wordlessly. They remained in that position for several minutes before she finally drew back, sniffling.

"I'm sorry. I just… couldn't help it…"

"It's ok," Natsu said, offering her a smile. "But we need to get going."

"R-right." She quickly picked up her bag from shopping, and the two headed on their way again.

 **~~~~~~Fairy Tail Guild~~~~~~**

"Alright, there you go," Happy said, pointing to the massive building still off in the distance a ways.

"Won't you be coming with me?" Erza didn't want to admit it, but she actually felt a little intimidated by the sight. The massive building, combined by what she'd heard about guilds from Natsu and the few people she'd had occasion to talk to in towns, suggested lots of people. And while these people might know her, she didn't really know any of them at the moment.

"Nope," Happy just grinned at her. "You know I have to get back to Natsu and Wendy before anyone from the guild sees me. Can't risk being traced after all."

With that he was flying away, and though Erza knew she could probably stop him with one of her armors, she also knew there wasn't much point. Instead, she turned and approached the building, slowly.

It was somewhat encouraging to note that the symbol on the front of the building matched the one on her shoulder, just as Natsu said. Even so, despite the intimidating aura she possessed, a part of her was afraid to go through the giant doors that led into the guild. Not afraid in any physical sense. More because she wasn't ready to handle the questions that must await her from all the people that knew her. At the end of the day, Erza wasn't really much of a social person.

Still, she pushed the doors open with a commanding presence. After all, from the little she'd learned of herself through traveling with Natsu, this is what the guild members should expect of her. Perhaps it would even dissuade them from approaching her with questions, given the reputation that she was told she possessed.

Heads turned her way instantly, and she fought the urge to shrink back from the various expressions of shock that were directed at her. It wasn't that she was afraid or anything. It was just… so many new people was overwhelming! Especially people who were looking at her as though they'd just seen a ghost or something.

She cleared her throat, speaking in what she hoped was a confident tone. "I would like to speak to the guildmaster. Is he present?"

"Erza?..." A blonde in the corner was the first to speak up. She wore skimpy blue and white clothing and had a key ring with a bunch of odd shaped keys on her waist. Erza was pretty certain she'd never seen those kind of keys before.

"What the fuck Erza?" A dark-haired teen in his underwear stood, somewhat belligerently. "You've been gone for months, and this is how you greet us when you come back?!"

Erza frowned, sticking to her guns. "I must speak with the master of this guild. If he is not here, kindly direct me to where I may find him."

She saw many frowns around the large guild hall, and people started whispering to each other at their tables. However, an elderly, mostly bald man of very small stature seemed to recover his composure faster than the rest.

"I'm Makarov Dreyar, master of Fairy Tail. Don't you remember us, Erza?"

Erza looked toward him, then bowed ever so slightly. "I wish to speak to you in private."

"Very well," Makarov replied, motioning for her to follow him. She obliged, ignoring questions that people bombarded her with as they made their way to a door near the bar. Makarov opened the door, motioned for her to go inside, and then closed the door behind them.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Erza not exactly sure how to begin. Finally Makarov spoke. "Why don't you tell me what happened, Erza?"

Erza frowned, trying to remember anything before waking up in that old man's hut. "I don't know what happened," she said quietly. "I only know that I woke up alone in a hut some weeks ago. I figured this mark on my arm," here she exquipped to a sleeveless blouse and indicated the guild mark, "must mean something."

"How did you get here then?" Makarov asked, curiously.

"While I was recovering in the hut, a wizard calling himself Natsu came along with a younger wizard named Wendy and two cats that can fly. Natsu said he knew what the symbol meant, and after some encouragement from his team agreed to bring me back to Fairy Tail."

"You said Natsu brought you back?" Erza took in the slight widening of the eyes, though they quickly returned to normal. "Where is he?"

"I don't know. He brought me far enough that I could see the guild and then insisted I go the rest of the way by myself."

"I see." A faint frown creased the old man's lips, his eyes looking distant as though he were looking right through her. "Is there anything else that you remember?"

She thought a little longer. "Well, we met a blue-haired wizard named Mystogan who helped me master my magic again, and then I joined Natsu and Wendy for a final battle in a different world."

Makarov didn't seem at all surprised by this explanation. Apparently he already knew something about the other world that she spoke of. He rubbed her chin, looking at her thoughtfully.

"Well, I'm not sure what to tell you other than welcome back. There are many here who knew you quite well and depended on you before your supposed death. They may not understand your amnesia."

Erza nodded. She kind of expected that would be the case, but she wanted to at least talk to the guild master before she faced them.

"Also, I wouldn't mention anything about Natsu to the rest of the guild. There are some in the guild who still haven't gotten over him."

Erza nodded again. She hesitated for a few moments, but then asked the question that was most on her mind.

"Master, what is, I mean… was, my role in this guild?"

Makarov seemed a bit taken aback by the question, but then he settled back in his large, comfortable looking chair.

"That's not something I can really explain quickly or easily, so please sit back. We're going to be here for a while…"

 **~~~~~~In the Woods, West of Fiore~~~~~~**

"So you've been travelling alone with Natsu all this time?" Levy asked. She was currently soaking in the river with Wendy, Natsu's traveling companion and 'little sister.'

"Well, Carla's been here too," Wendy replied. "So I wouldn't say I've been traveling alone with Natsu. However, other than Happy and Carla, Erza's the only one that spent any time with us so far."

"Oh, I forgot about Carla." Levy glanced around, but she didn't see the white cat anywhere. "Where is she anyway?"

"Probably off with Happy somewhere," Wendy said, a smile on her face. "Those two have been a lot closer since Edolas."

"Edolas?" Levy hadn't heard of that country before. Just where had Natsu and Wendy been traveling since he left the guild? She was almost sure that she knew the name of every nearby country, and certainly any country you could get to and back from in a few months' time.

"Oh, Edolas is another world," Wendy said quickly. "It was kind of weird how it all happened, but we kind of got separated from Carla and Happy there. Before that, they didn't really get along very well, but ever since we got back, well, they've spent a lot more time together."

This information was really pretty shocking. There was another world outside of Earthland, and Natsu and Wendy had been there? It sounded like a great adventure! Though, if she was honest, Levy was the kind of wizard who preferred to stay in the comfort of home. When it came down to it, that was a good part of the reason that she decided to learn solid script magic. It was a good support magic, but most requests that called for her specialty didn't require fighting monsters or dark guilds.

Which was why, again, reclining naked in a river far from civilization was pretty high on the list of things she would have said not long ago that she'd never do. Still, if Wendy could handle roughing it in the wild, she was sure that she could keep up to.

"So why did you come with big brother?" Wendy's voice cut into her thoughts, prodding them in a different direction. Why did she decide to come with Natsu?

Well… The primary motivator was just to get away from Fairy Tail for a while. Sure, she could've done that without going on a wild adventure with Natsu, but she was a little timid, so going on an adventure with somebody she at least knew pretty well and could count on was better than stepping out into the world on her own, even if she would be more physically comfortable.

"I just needed to get away from the guild for a while, but I'm not strong enough to take on any long quests on my own."

"Ah, I see." Was it Levy's imagination, or did Wendy's tone relax after hearing this? "Why leave Fairy Tail though? From what Natsu said, it sounds like a great place for anyone besides him."

Levy took a deep breath. "Someone there did something really terrible," she said quietly. "Something that I can't forgive so easily. But the guild just let it pass because he was 'trying to do the right thing.' Well, maybe they can give him a free pass on it, but I can't."

"Hmm…" Wendy's eyes seemed to be searching hers, but eventually she reached out to grab some soap from the river bank, scrubbing her small body. "Natsu said he was hurt by the guild," she said in an off-handed manner. Something in her tone made it seem that it was more important than she was making it sound though.

"I was never really close to Natsu," Levy said with a shrug. "I mean, we got along fine. He's easy to like, but we never really got to know each other super well."

"I see," Wendy said brightly. "Well, I guess you'll get to know him better now, eh?"

Levy thought about that for a minute. That was true, actually. Though it certainly hadn't been a motivation for coming, there was no getting away from the fact that she would develop a closer relationship with the dragon slayer.

Of course, when she thought of it that way it made her situation all the more ironic. Her friendship that developed with Lu-chan was natural. They were both interested in many of the same things, after all. She could've seen herself going off on an adventure with her. What a wonderful time they would have! Talking about their favorite books, the best authors, the myths surrounding Fiore, or of course Lu-chan's novel that she was writing. They would stay in high-class hotels, take nice, hot baths every day…

Instead, here she was in the cold river. Sure, it was refreshing in the heat of the day after their long hike through the forest, but it wasn't anything like a hot spa. _What I wouldn't give for a hot bath right now…_

"Natsu helps me with hot baths many nights," Wendy said as she leaned back against a large boulder.

"You mean… He's there when you take a bath?!"

"Only when I ask him to, of course." Wendy said with a smile. "He is my big brother after all. Well, I consider him to be my brother. As such, it's my responsibility to keep an eye on him and look out for him."

"I see," Levy felt a little bewildered at the younger girl's antics. Was she being vetted as possible girlfriend material? Yeah right, like that would ever happen. She was refined, classy, loved reading and intellectual problems.

Natsu, on the other hand… Well, he was physically strong, not exceptionally smart, but bright enough when the need arose, unrefined, loved brawling and fighting more than anything. He seemed a little dense, but he was actually quite caring underneath it. In a way, he was kind of like… Gajeel…

Heh, when she thought of it that way, things seemed different. There were a few differences between Gajeel and Natsu. For one, Gajeel was probably a bit smarter. But what Natsu lacked in intelligence he made up for in spirit. His spirit surpassed anyone else's in the guild without question.

Of course, that certainly didn't make him boyfriend material, but she was going to be spending a lot of time with him in the near future. It certainly couldn't hurt to get to know him better.

"Well, I'm done bathing," Wendy said, getting up from the water beside her. "Time to see what Natsu caught for dinner."

"Right," Levy snapped out of her trance, also getting up and finding her towel on the river bank. "Right behind you."

Soon she was dressed and back at the campsite, sitting next to a large fire. There was an iron pot full of some sort of soup, which actually smelled surprisingly good. She was about to get up and take a closer look when Natsu came out of his tent with 5 bowls.

"Hey you two. Seen Happy and Carla yet?"

"I'm sure they'll be here soon Natsu," Wendy said. Then she giggled, "Unless Happy managed to catch some fish, that is."

Levy couldn't help giggling as well at that thought. Sure, she didn't know Natsu all that well, but she knew the cat and dragon slayer duo well enough to be aware of Happy's adoration of fish.

"Ah well, guess they can eat when they get here." Natsu dished some soup out into 3 of the bowls, then handed one to Levy and one to Wendy, along with a spoon each.

Levy dipped her spoon into the soup and then hesitantly brought it to her mouth. She picked a single piece of the meat out with the tiniest bit of broth, chewing experimentally. The soup was… actually pretty good. Sure, it wasn't on par with the meals Mirajane made at the guild, but especially for what seemed to be a fish soup, it really was a good effort.

"I didn't know you could cook Natsu," she said before finishing her current bite and digging in for another one.

"Of course I can cook. I'm by myself a lot," he said, not bothering to pause between bites. She flinched as small bits of food flew from his mouth from trying to talk and eat at the same time. Ok, that was something he definitely needed to improve on if they were going to be traveling together.

"Natsu, have you ever considering trying to eat a little more…. Normally?" Levy surprised herself with her boldness. Normally she would just let the behavior slide because she was too timid to talk about it, but for some reason it just slipped out easily.

Natsu frowned. "I don't know, everyone on my team was always telling me I needed to eat better."

Levy wasn't sure what to say to that. She knew how he felt about his team right now, considering he still wasn't back at the guild, but it would be nice if he would at least show some interest in table manners.

"Natsu-nii, just because your team asked you to do it before doesn't make it a bad thing," Wendy piped in, her voice timid beside Levy.

"It bothers you too Wendy?" Natsu sounded genuinely surprised. "Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"It wasn't that much of a bother," Wendy said, her face flushing as she looked away.

Natsu frowned, his face scrunched up a little as though he were considering what they said. Then a toothy grin broke over his face. "Well, if it really bothers you two, I'll try to do better when I'm eating."

"Really?!"

"Thanks Natsu-nii!"

With that over the meal could go on in peace. Even though Natsu was still making a bit of a mess when he ate, Levy could tell he was actually trying to make good on his promise. Hopefully given some time he'd be able to eat like a normal human being. Not that Levy McGarden cared, of course. No, she just wanted it to feel like she was in civilization a little bit while on this journey. Making Natsu a better person wasn't her concern.

"Natsu, you meanie! You ate without us!" Levy looked up to see Happy and Carla approaching, the former yelling at Natsu as they entered the campfire circle. Carla just looked away and scoffed.

"Well, I didn't know where you were, and I didn't want to interrupt you Happy," Natsu said, winking at the blue cat. "After all, if you were making progress it would've been a shame to call you away."

"Hmph!" Happy grabbed two bowls and a ladle and approached the pot. He then filled the bowls, grabbed a couple spoons, and scooted over with Carla to sit on a small log that was pulled up with the other make-shift chairs.

Levy sat quietly for several minutes, wondering what was going to happen next. Normally at this time she would be at Fairy Hills, reading a book or researching something for her magic. But now she only had the books that she'd just bought at the store and a couple extra outfits, which she'd been appalled to learn were going to have to last all the way to the capital city of Crocus.

"Say Levy, I think you should train with us." Natsu said with a grin.

"T-train?!" Levy asked. "Right after eating?!"

"Best time to start," Natsu said with a grin. "The first hour is just meditation anyway."

Meditation, well that wasn't physically strenuous at least. "O-ok…" Levy agreed.

"Great! Let's go!" Natsu got up, grabbing her hand and pulling her up and away from the fire area.

As it turned out, meditation, which was tricky in itself to learn, was only the start. By the time they were finished Levy needed another bath, and had two pair of clothes to wash. That and she was exhausted. Once the physical training started she'd only stayed in it for the first 15 minutes before collapsing, and she felt like she couldn't move. She'd never be able to keep up with Natsu and Wendy. Those two were still going an hour later when she left for the river!

As she nuzzled into her blankets that night, Levy McGarden began to have second thoughts about this whole adventure. But then she thought of returning to Fairy Tail, and her resolve hardened again.

Yeah. That wasn't happening anytime soon. She needed this time away to get her thoughts back in order.

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So there it is. Drop a review if you liked :)


	11. Chapter 11

****DISCLAIMER** I don't own Fairy Tail, Mashima does **DISCLAIMER****

 **Ok, so here's chapter 11 of Lost. Still working toward growing a little bit of NaLe and not making it feel forced. Not a whole lot to say except that I've been disappointed with the manga lately...**

 **Anywho, read and review!**

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Levy grunted as she pushed her way through some more annoying undergrowth. How did Natsu and Wendy deal with this shit anyway? Even though they stuck to generally open trails in the forest, it seemed like she would end up pushing aside brush every few seconds.

Maybe she would've been better off branching out on her own. There were plenty of other magic guilds around, after all. She could've been fine at places like Lamia Scale, at least. Though she would never dream of going near Blue Pegasus. Ugh. She'd been unfortunate enough to encounter the trimens once on a job request, and she never wanted to spend another second interacting with them.

Still, she didn't really want to leave Fairy Tail. She had too many memories there, and she still liked _most_ of the people. Jet and Droy were getting kind of annoying with their constant obsession with who she liked more. And she wasn't about to tell them she didn't like either of them that way. Not that it would make a difference. She made it abundantly clear to them with Gajeel, but it seemed that now that he was out of the picture they thought she would naturally fall back on them. And if she was honest, she couldn't handle it the way she used to. At least not yet.

But an extended quest with Natsu was turning out to be more difficult than she'd anticipated. Not that she'd really done much anticipating, of course. There was the real problem. For perhaps the first time in her life, Levy McGarden had acted on instinct. When she saw Erza going through Magnolia with Happy, she knew Natsu must be nearby. And instead of doing what she normally would've done and thinking rationally about it, she jumped at the chance to get some time away from the guild. She'd run to find him and insisted he take her along on his journey.

Now they were in the middle of nowhere, on their way to the capital. She was, honestly, tired of bathing in rivers and lakes and cycling through the same three outlets. If they kept a normal pace, they would be at the Capitol in no more than 24 hours, but Natsu insisted they slow down because Levy couldn't keep the pace and keep up with the training.

That was the other thing, the training. For three days straight, she'd spent an hour meditating - a surprisingly tiring pastime - only to then spend the next several minutes, she was still only able to do about 20, doing various body strengthening exercises. Natsu and Wendy both told her it would get easier the longer she did it, but she was still waiting for their assurances to prove true.

"Smells like there's a clean lake not too far ahead, we'll stop for the evening there." Natsu's voice came from beside her. Initially he'd been leading the way, but it soon became evident that she couldn't keep his pace, so he'd walked beside her instead.

"Say Natsu," Levy said, turning her side to the pink-haired teen. "Why do you insist that I train with you and Wendy every night?"

"Because I want you to get stronger," he replied as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"But I don't need physical strength for my magic," Levy said, a little irritated. "Why couldn't I just do the meditation and then go read?"

"You're smart, right?" Natsu said, and Levy nodded in response. Of course she was smart! What kind of question was that? "Then you should know that being physically strong could give you an edge in battle since your opponents won't expect it."

"I'm never in a position where I actually have to fight!" Levy protested. It was true. She always assisted people from behind the front lines of the battle.

"And what if that changes?" Natsu asked. "Not everyone plays 'fair' in battle. What if someone notices you staying away from the main battle and comes after you?"

"Then someone will protect me," she said stubbornly. He wasn't going to win this fight. She didn't need to be physically strong because she could get out of anything by using her head.

"Well, it'll also help get your stamina up so we can travel faster in the future," Natsu said, turning his head back to the front.

Levy sighed, backing off from the argument. As tired as she was from the last few days of training, she didn't want to push the issue that much. Besides, she knew how stubborn Natsu could be. She resigned herself to trekking onward.

Then the brush began to recede, and the sloping hills flattened out to a more even level. Through the trees ahead sunlight glinted off an expanse of water. The trees began to thin as well, allowing a welcome breeze to cool her face and arms.

When they finally reached the lake shore, she had to admit the site was spectacular. A sandy beach sloped gently down into crystal clear water on their side of the lake, near where Natsu set down his pack and started pulling out their tents. As she looked out over the lake, a gentle breeze stirred the surface of the otherwise quiet water. The serenity of their little beach camp washed over her, cleansing her spirit of the long trek through the woodland that brought them to the location. She inhaled the clean, rich air of this forest lake, untainted by the dust and debris of human settlement.

In that moment she began to think that maybe journeying like this wouldn't be such a bad thing, at least for a short while. She had the rest of her life to enjoy the safety and comfort of the guild after all, but in all her previous quests she never stopped to admire the beauty of nature. In fact, she spent most of her time avoiding nature as much as possible. She realized now what she'd been missing out on, and decided that this kind of adventure could have a place in her future. Occasionally. Very occasionally.

 **~~~~~~Natsu~~~~~~**

Natsu scowled as he finished putting up the last of the tents. Ever since the first day all Levy did was complain. Why'd she even ask to come with them in the first place? She should just stay back in the guild where she belonged. Now she was just slowing them down because they had to help her get her body in shape to keep up! And she wasn't even grateful!

Maybe he should just turn around and dump her back at the guild. They were only a couple days out of they skipped her evening training. And he wouldn't have to put up with her complaints either. Why couldn't she just appreciate that they were trying to help her become stronger?

Wait a minute. What was he thinking? When did he become so obsessed with people around him conforming to his standards? It wasn't that long ago that he could just have fun no matter what was happening around him. Even when Lucy failed to maintain the pace or keep up with the team, it never bothered him like this.

He frowned as he glanced over at Levy, who was currently sitting barefoot on the beach. He knew she wouldn't be ready for a journey like this. It didn't surprise him, so why did he find it so upsetting? Had he really changed that much since leaving for his solo training journey?

"Natsu, did you eat a bad fish?" He glanced over to see Happy, the usual clueless grin on his face. "You look weird."

"I don't look weird, I was thinkin!" He yelled at the cat.

"Most people don't look weird when they think." Happy said. Then he grinned. "Oh, was it hurting your head?"

"IT WASN'T HURTING MY HEAD!" Natsu yelled.

"Then what…" Happy trailed off as Carla came into view. "CARLA! Want a fish?"

Natus glared at the tent, then set back to his work. With the tents built, the next step was to gather some firewood. Sure, he could just heat a pot of stew with his own fire, but that was rather tedious. Better to gather some good, dry branches and set them ablaze. Then he could focus on other things instead of sitting and waiting for a pot to boil, literally.

Of course, the solitude of collecting firewood gave his mind plenty of time to return to its earlier activities. He shook his head, trying to clear it. He almost never engaged in this kind of introspection. He never needed to. He always knew the right path just by following his heart, and he didn't have to think to know what that was telling him!

And yet… And yet, why did he feel like he was ignoring something major inside him. Maybe that was the reason he hadn't been as happy lately.

His reaction to seeing Erza for the first time was uncharacteristic, as was his total dedication to training. He knew that better than anyone. Sure, he had goals. He wanted to be the strongest. But to dedicate himself as much as he did to training over the last few months?

He shook the thoughts away before they could go any further. If Levy weren't there, he'd pass this time talking to Wendy while he was gathering wood. But it seemed now that there was another girl there to talk to, Wendy preferred their bathing time to helping him gather firewood. Yet another reason he should've just left the girl at Fairy Tail…

Bah. He shook his head again, trying to clear it. What was wrong with him? He'd always loved company before, but being alone never led him to these kinds of thoughts.

"Is something wrong, nii-san?" Natsu started and looked up, realizing he was almost back to camp. He quickly forced a grin onto his face.

"It's nothing Wendy," he said, taking in his armful of firewood that he'd gathered on autopilot. "Aren't you going to bathe with Levy today?"

"Oh, it was faster today," Wendy said with a smile. "Levy said she wanted to take a short nap before dinner. And of course, Carla and Happy are off alone again."

"Of course." What else would they be doing? THe way the two cats were these days you would think they were already married.

"Are you sure nothing's wrong? You looked pretty serious," Wendy asked, her voice hesitant.

"Just thinking about the past." It wasn't a lie, really. He was mostly considering the past. It was time to change the subject so there wouldn't be any more discussion about it. "How about we get supper started?"

"Sure. I haven't cooked with you since Levy joined us," Wendy said, still smiling brightly.

Natsu felt like the remainder of that day actually went surprisingly well.

 **~~~~~~A few weeks later~~~~~~**

The campsite was momentarily quiet as five people, well, three people and two cats, were busying themselves with a large hot steak. Natsu was in better spirits. Since departing Crocus, Levy's attitude had, surprisingly, improved quite a bit. Perhaps she was getting used to the life in the wilderness, or perhaps it had something to do with all the books she got to go with her dimensional bag while they were in town. It might even be because their training was obviously starting to pay off and she wasn't so physically weak anymore. Whatever the reason, he was glad that she didn't whine as much.

"Alright," he was startled as the usually quiet girl spoke out, having finished her soup in record time for her. "Natsu, you're gonna' start training with me today before meditation."

"Training?" Natsu could only stare at her with his mouth stupidly open. Did she just say she was going to train him? She was the one that was being trained this entire time! How could she possibly think that…

"Yep." She pulled out a bunch of books. "I think it's only fair. I did all your training to make my body strong. Now you're going to do some mental training."

"No thanks," Natsu said quickly. "I don't need to be book smart to fight!"

"We made her train with us, Natsu," he turned to see Wendy's traitorous big brown eyes staring into his. "I agree with her. It's only fair."

"I ain't gonna' do it!" Natsu declared again, closing his eyes. But it was too late to shut out the image of Wendy's big, brown eyes. "Traitor," he muttered under his breath. Of course, Wendy would still hear it, but that was fine. He wanted her to.

"He just said he would do it!" He heard Wendy announce before opening his eyes. He was about to protest again but thought better of it when his 'little sis' gave him a sideways glance.

"Alright!" Levy said with a grin. "We're gonna start with something easy…"

She pulled out a book. "Alright Natsu. Answer this easy question correctly and you don't have to do today's training."

"Alright, an easy question! I can do that," Natsu said with a grin. Yeah. He was confident in his ability to at least get the easy stuff right.

"Great. First, here's the scenario. You're responsible for protecting the king from foreign spies or assassins. At a big party you see three men arrive, separately, bearing the Crimson Claw guild emblem. All three are wearing a black tuxedo with dress shirts. One is wearing a white dress shirt. One is wearing a red dress shirt. One is wearing a green dress shirt. The one with the white dress shirt is carrying a sword strapped around his waist using a sword belt. The sword has a gold hilt, the scabbard is ivory, and the weapon is about 3 inches longer than the average blade. The man who has a green shirt carries a dirk on his waist, but you can see the outlines of two daggers hidden within his sleeves. The third man who is wearing the red dress shirt is carrying two handguns, held in holsters at his waist."

"You look on your guest list and see that Crimson Claw only had 2 seats at this party. That means one of the three men you saw is a fake. To get out of your training for the day, answer the following question: which is the fake, and how do you know?"

Natsu groaned, all the details scrambling in his head. How could he possibly answer this question without more information? Perhaps a one in three guess?... Well how about…

"The guy in the green shirt was fake, 'cause I'm not a big fan of green."

Wendy giggled at the answer and shook her head. "No and No. The guy in the red shirt was a fake, and there were two reasons. First, the leader of Crimson Claw always wears a black tux with a red dress shirt and a red Fedora. For that reason, the guild has a rule forbidding its members, except the guild master, to wear a red dress shirt with their tuxes. Second, Crimson Claw was so named because it was a guild formed for mages who specialized in swords or daggers. Projectile weapons, save throwing knives and daggers, are not allowed in the guild."

"How was I supposed to know something stupid like that?!" Natsu protested.

Levy pouted at him. "It's not stupid. And I get to make the rules for your training. It's actually pretty common knowledge that Crimson Claw is full of sword specialists, at least, and you could've gotten by with that answer."

"Meh." Natsu frowned. "Fine. What's the training for today then?"

"Well, seeing as you failed the quiz, we're going to start with a basic study of the major guilds in Fiore, both famous guilds from the past and notable guilds in the present."

"You heard her big brother! Let's get training."

For the next hour, Natsu read various descriptions of guilds that were famous in Fiore and in other parts of the world, both in the past and present. Some of them had pictures, which of course made them more interesting, but none of them were something he would've chosen to read himself. It seemed to drag on forever, with Levy asking him questions and making him re-read certain papers or sections before the training was finally over and they were able to go on to their regular nightly routine.

Later, not long before they were going to bed, Natsu was surprised when Levy actually sat next to him. Sure, they'd been getting to know each other over the past few weeks, but she still typically stayed by Wendy for meals and late night story exchanges. Yet there she was, sitting on the space to the left of him on the large log he'd pulled from the woods.

He couldn't help acknowledging there was more to Levy than met the eye. He'd always thought of her as just a little book nerd that enjoyed the attention she got from her fanboy club, but as they started talking more he'd discovered there was much more to her. She was always insecure, thinking of herself as one of the weaker people in the guild. She also had a bad habit of doubting her abilities, which Natsu hoped he could cure her of by the time they finished training. Yet she had a spirit that rivaled anyone from his old group, on the rare occasions that it awakened. She cared deeply about the people around her. And, of course, like him she was fighting through feelings of betrayal. That was the commonality that threw them together in the first place, after all.

It was a cool night, and no surprise there. It was December 20th, after all. Even the fire they were closer to than usual couldn't fully keep the winter breeze off them, and Natsu felt his cheeks warm as Levy scooted closer to him. He knew it was just because of his body heat, but for some reason the action still caused him to flush.

And why? He'd been closer than this to Erza, Lucy, Lisanna when she was alive, and even Mirajane. So why was this embarrassing to him? Was it because he wasn't used to that kind of contact with Levy? Yes. That had to be it. He quickly shook off the awkwardness of the moment.

That night, when Natsu and Happy were alone in their tent, Natsu found himself unable to sleep for some reason. Happy fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, of course. Natsu wished he could fall asleep so easily. It made no sense to him that he couldn't! It was always that easy! But tonight, no matter how hard he tried to relax his body, no matter how fatigued and ready to pass out he felt, sleep continued to elude him.

He'd assembled a new team, sure. And Wendy was great. Levy was surprisingly a wonderful person as well. Yet, despite the great new company, the feeling that started a couple weeks before had just grown. Whatever this feeling of wrongness was, it was getting out of hand now. He had to get to the bottom of it, or his recent irritable moments would continue to get worse.

 _It's because you miss your old team_. Furious, Natsu pushed the thought away. He didn't miss them! They had betrayed him! Left him, the namesake of the team, behind to take requests on their own. Why? Because he was a little destructive from time to time? So what?! Gray and Erza could be destructive too. And Lucy? She destroyed half the port of Hargeon when they first met. Well, technically her celestial spirit did… Really, when it came down to it, Lucy didn't contribute much to the fights if she wasn't destroying things. But seriously. Why would he miss them?

But he knew, deep down, that he did. That was part of the reason he was so annoyed when they met Erza. He actually wanted to be happy to see her, to reconcile with her, even. But he wouldn't let himself. He spent the last few months obsessing over their leaving him behind rather than coming to terms with the fact that he really didn't hate them for it. He did miss them, and maybe it was time to set aside his foolish vow and return to Fairy Tail. After all, it could be years before he gained enough power to beat Gildarts. He got a lot stronger already, sure, but not that strong.

He didn't even realize he'd been crying till a drop fell on his hand, which was curled up by his face. There was no doubt about it now. This had been the source of his frustration. For a long time his heart told him it was time to go home, but for all this time he'd refused to listen. Well, that wouldn't be happening any longer. They would head to the nearest town in the morning and then go straight back to Fairy Tail! His mind and heart finally clear, Natsu was able to fall asleep almost instantly.

 **~~~~~~The Next Day, Mid-Afternoon~~~~~~**

"Salamander-san! COOL!"

Natsu looked up as the overzealous blonde reported known as Jason charged toward him, pen and paper in hand. It had just happened that the nearest town was Crocus, and somehow Jason had seen them. The man pulled up short, nodding quickly.

"Salamander-san, is there any truth to the rumors that you've been avoiding the guild?"

Natsu considered brushing him off or lying, but decided against it. "I was for a while, but I'm over it now. I'm heading back today, actually."

"COOL! Salamander-san, coming to the rescue of his guild in the hour of need!" Jason said, his over-excited voice and actions starting to get on Natsu's nerves.

"What do you mean hour of need?" He couldn't help being curious.

"You mean you haven't heard?!"

"Heard what?"

"All the S class candidates, along with the master and the S class examiners, were destroyed by Acnologia a few days ago. People have been searching for 4 days for survivors and not found any!"

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 **And there it is! Abrupt ending I know, but if I kept going it would get really long and I wouldn't be able to post till after the weekend.**

 **Feel free to drop a review. Flames will be ignored or eaten for dinner ^^**


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